Both Sargeant and Vorenberg said that last year they felt the Review should follow the same investment policy as the University. But support among the three classes at the Law School represented in the petitions led Vorenberg to believe that "the student editors of the Law Review are its working constituency. Their views should be considered with great weight".

In last year's vote, the two student members of the board and Professor Richard Parker voted to divest, while Vorenberg, Sargeant and Professor William D. Andrews opposed divestiture.

Before Tuesday's meeting Sargeant contacted the members of the board and found that "more than a majority of the Trustees share the opinion that, under the special circumstances governing the Review, the views of the student editors of the Review as expressed in their 1983 and 1984 petitions should be recognized," according to memorandum distributed by Sargeant at the meeting.

The University endowment is estimated at $2.324 billion, of which about $460 million is invested in American corporations working in South Africa.

Robert Fram, the president of the Law Review, said that the move to divest came as a "pleasant surprise. I didn't know that some of the members of the board has changed their mind."

"I see it as a form of symbolic speech stating the views of one small segment of the community." Fram added.

Noting that he hoped the move would nudge the University closer to reversing its policy of opposing divestiture, Goldstein said "We don't export South Africa to listen to the Harvard Law Review. But we do think they would listen to Harvard University.