Nearly 80 faculty members of Tufts University have signed a letter protesting the university's acceptance last week of a $1.5 million grant from Imelda Marcos, the wife of the president of the Phillipines.

"We find it ironic that Tufts University, an institution purportedly commited to humane values, would accept money from the family of a Phillipine dictator," the letter says.

The letter adds that the Tufts administration lies about the nature of the "Phillipine dictatorship" and the Marcos family in order to justify their acceptance of the grant."

Edwin O. Reischauer, University Professor, said yesterday he would have serious doubts about the legitimacy of a grant coming directly from a "very oppressive and very corrupt regime."

Gregory Henderson, professor of Diplomacy at Tuft's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, said yesterday the Phillipine government does not require the creation of any specific programs, but only that the funds be used in East Asian studies.