Important university archives missing

Haas School of Business eyes Bowles Hall

By Robert Nathan Eberhart
From the October 2006 Print Edition

A collection of documents relating to the wishes of the principal benefactors of Bowles Hall, last seen in the university archives less than one year ago, has gone missing in violation of the California Open Records Act.

The missing documents, relating to the Bowles family’s donations to the university during the 1920s, would bear weight in any decision to renovate or restructure the men’s dormitory, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The documents were part of the $350,000 donation by Mary McNear Bowles in memory of her husband, Cal alumnus and UC Regent Phillip E. Bowles. The documents in part laid the groundwork for the traditions that Bowles Hall has become known for including its status as an all-male dorm dedicated to "Education Through Fellowship."

The documents’ sudden disappearance raises a number of questions about the propriety of the Haas School of Business’ intention to acquire Bowles Hall for its own purposes.

The Haas School of Business, motivated in part by a recent anonymous grant of $25 million for a new executive-education building, is considering Bowles Hall as a potential site for its executive-education program pending the results of a university-commissioned environmental impact report due out later this year. If selected, Bowles Hall would become a series of executive suites for business leaders attending Haas seminars.

Repeated searches for the documents, listed as present in the university’s MEVYL database, have turned up nothing. Additionally, a California Open Records Act request, lodged with David Farrell, the University Archivist and person responsible for the relevant documents, was ignored. Farrell did not respond to calls for comment as of press time.

Bancroft Library, the central repository for the University Archives, has a policy of openness and public access. "University Archives records are fully accessible to the public," Farrell said.

"The non-availability of documents, especially those which might be consequential in the decision to go forward with a major university expansion and alter the character of a national landmark, is a serious matter," said San Jose resident Jim Arbuckle, a 1957 UC Berkeley graduate who lived at Bowles for four years and later received a Haas graduate degree.

Without the presentation of these documents in accordance with state law, questions will surround the efforts by senior Haas officials to convert Bowles from a student dormitory into executive suites.

The documents carry significant weight in the eyes of many Bowles Hall alumni as well as the court of law. In a related case, the Robertson Foundation has sued Princeton University over alleged misuse of an endowment meant to support the Wilson School’s graduate program and to place its graduates in federal government jobs. The University has denied any misuse and the case remains mired in litigation.

According to Larry Lollar, Assistant Dean of Development and Alumni Relations at Haas, senior officials at Haas have been in contact with Bowles Hall alumni to ensure that any concerns that they have will be addressed before any decision to move forward with the plans to acquire the hall become official.

"If Bowles Hall is ultimately used as a residential facility for Executive Education, we believe it will be used in the spirit in which Mrs. Bowles intended. The stated purpose was to be a dormitory — a residence — for men, and even if it is converted, it will still be used as a residential facility," Lollar said.

"Decades of [Men of Bowles] were raised and educated at Bowles Hall under the principles of ‘Education Through Fellowship.’ The planned Haas acquisition would totally change that," Arbuckle said. "Leave it for the younger students."

Recently however, student apathy has weakened the vibrant student spirit that was once incubated at Bowles Hall. A 2005 decision by UC Berkeley officials to restrict the dormitory to freshmen only, a move which has provoked consternation among many alumni, has led to the choking of many Bowles traditions.

"I’m just living here for a year," said Chris Ha, an 18-year-old first-year student from Los Angeles. "It’s just a living place for me."

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