SAC Asks University Officials To Rename Engelhard Library

Six members of the Student Advisory Committee (SAC) of the Institute of Politics yesterday asked University officials to reconsider its stand on renaming the Engelhard Library, and to establish a set of criteria governing future University acceptance of gifts.

Daniel Steiner '54, general counsel to the University, and Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, met with the SAC members to discuss their requests, initially formulated in an open letter last month to Graham T. Allison '62, dean of the Kennedy School of Government.

"It was a beginning of a dialogue that I'd like to see continued," Barbara S. Fischbein '80, chairman of the SAC, and one of the participants in the 90-minute meeting, said yesterday. "I had hoped, probably very unrealistically and idealistically, that we could establish some common ground or principles," she added.

"The Corporation had indicated that the name of the Library is not going to be changed," Steiner said yesterday. He added that the SAC letter had been "very thoughtful," and that the Corporation would consider its proposal to establish future guidelines.

"I certainly would be willing to make myself available for future discussions with students," Steiner said.

Nina S. Dayton, former chairperson of the SAC, said yesterday that "all constituencies" of the University should assist in designing a set of criteria for potential donors. Dayton said that a set of guidelines would both have to "incorporate the fundamental principles of the University, such as commitment to human rights and racial equality, and frame an approach to fundraising that offers clarity and security to potential donors."

"We were trying to be pretty insistent about sticking to the Engelhard situation," Jack S. Bloom '79, a member of the SAC, said yesterday. "We were trying to say that what the University did was wrong. Whatever kind of criteria you develop, the Engelhard gift will fall beyond the bounds," he added.