Months of dispute between the president and board of trustees of Bowdoin College in Maine ended this week in the resignation of President Willard F. Enteman and two other college officials amid protest from faculty members who wanted Enteman to stay on.

Bowdoin professor Lawrence S. Hall defended Enteman yesterday, calling the conditions of his resignation "political." Hall said Enteman "tried to withdraw the college's investments in South Africa, delivered a pay raise that the faculty was promised a long time ago, and he insisted that women be allowed to join the fraternities."

"The old boys didn't like it," Hall added.

Trustee Richard A. Wiley said yesterday, "A committee was appointed in May to review the performance of the president" but refused to give detailed reasons for the committee's formation.

In addition to Enteman, Vincent Welch, a Bowdoin trustee, and John Ring, vice president for development, have also resigned. The Boston Globe reported yesterday that the pair stepped down as part of an agreement that both of Enteman's key "antagonists" would leave campus with Enteman.

"The faculty has passed a resolution of non-support for the trustees' action. They disputed the procedure employed by the board to get rid of the president," Hall said in a Globe interview.

He added yesterday, "It's going to be pretty hard to find a new president in light of what they did to the last one."