Tutors came to students' doors around 11 p.m. last night to tell students of an emergency house meeting.
North House residents said they thought something terrible had happened until the actual announcement was made.
Some students were less than enthusiastic about the change.
"I think it makes us feel like British snobs," said Kathryn K. Huang '97. "I would prefer North."
Others, though, were not so negative.
"It's a shock but I guess it's not that big a deal, just odd," said Jeff H. Yin '95. "I've been expecting to get a degree from North House, but I guess they are good people so it's all right."
Some North House students, who had heard rumors of a name change in recent weeks, had begun a movement to "Save North," according to one student there.
The Pforzheimers' involvement spans three generations, beginning with Carl H. Pforzheimer Jr.'28, also a Business School graduate. He was president of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) during the 1980s.
He has served on many University committees, most notably as a member of the Committee on University Resources.
"Being fortunate enough to lead a life that is privately happy and hopefully is publicly useful is to me a most privileged condition," he wrote in Who's Who in America. "Maybe I can impart this philosophy to the upcoming generation."
His wife, Carol K. Pforzheimer '31, has also been actively involved in the University. She has been a trustee of Radcliffe College, director of the Radcliffe Alumnae Association's board of management and recipient of the Radcliffe distinguished service award.
Both Carl and Carol received alumni medal awards in 1987 from the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA).
Two of their children continued the history of involvement.
Carl H. Pforzheimer III '58, known to University insiders as "CHP3," continued in the family tradition and is currently vice president of HAA. He is said to be in line for the association's presidency.
He has also served on the visiting committee for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the schools and scholarship committee and the planning committee on faculty development and recruitment.
Carl III is chair of the board of the Horace Mann School in New York and of Pace University.
His sister, Nancy P. Aronson '56, has been very active in the Graduate School of Education.
Carl III's son, Gary M. Pforzheimer '84, who is also a Business School graduate, has been active in the University's planned giving organization