Sannwald was a visiting fellow at the Divinity School from 1924 to 1925, before being killed on the Russian front clad in the uniform of Hitler's SS troops.

The Controversy

After the HAA endorsed the proposal and passed it on to the Overseers, a letter from the Harvard Black Law Student Association (HBLSA), and supported by the African-American Student Union of the Harvard Business School and the Black Student Association (BSA), caused the proposition to be sent back to the drawing board.

In the letter to the Overseers, dated December 1, 1995, Patience R. Singleton, president of the HBLSA, attacked the proposed memorial for, among other things, being offensive to blacks and Union war dead.

"Erecting a memorial at this time sends the wrong message--that those who fight for injustice and oppression are placed on the same moral ground as those who fought to eradicate injustice and oppression," she wrote.

Singleton also criticized the deliberative process that went into the proposal, particularly Gomes's involvement.

"While we do not question Rev. Gomes's actions on the committee, his dual role as an advocate and a fact-gatherer creates at least the appearance of a conflict," she went on to write.

In response to the objections raised by Singleton, the Overseers referred the issue back to the HAA for further review.

The Next Step

It is now unclear what will happen to the proposal, but if the original goal of achieving consensus remains, its future appears dim.

Several administrators say they will not make any decision that will offend any part of the student body.

"We're not going to do anything as long as an important segment of the community is very uncomfortable with the idea," says Jack P. Reardon Jr. '60, executive director of the HAA. "And I think it's especially important that the African American community feel reasonable about this. If they don't, it's not going to go anywhere."

In addition, the objections which have been raised appear to have convinced President Neil L. Rudenstine not to support the proposal.

In an interview last week, Rudenstine said that he would oppose a memorial to both Union and Confederate soldiers because the University has not had a consistent policy on memorializing soldiers in the past.

Rudenstine has said in the past that he would favor a memorial to all students who have died in wars--even students who fought on the side of the Confederacy.