Center may have name by Friday

The controversial issue of whether to name the planned campus center the Revlon Center could be resolved tomorrow when the University Trustees may vote on a resolution to formally name the facility. The administration announced in late 1988 that the new campus center will be named the Revlon Center in honor of the Revlon Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ronald Perelman. He donated $10 million for the center through the firm's philanthropic arm, the Revlon Foundation. But students protested the name during the center's early planning stages, saying that by naming the center after the cosmetics giant the University would give the company decades of free advertising and would commercialize the facility. The center, slated for completion around 1993, will be located at 36th and Walnut streets. In recent months, the administration has referred to the building only as "the campus center," but Myles Tanenbaum, chairperson of the Trustees facilities and campus planning committee, said last night that the Trustees have no other choice but to go with the Revlon Center name. Tanenbaum, a 1952 Wharton and 1957 Law School graduate, said last night that the naming of buildings is the prerogative of the donor. He said that Perelman, a Wharton School alumni, insisted on putting his company's name on the center. He added that his committee approached Perelman about giving the center a different name, suggesting using Perelman's name instead. But since Revlon, Inc. donated the money, Tanenbaum said that Perelman, who was recently named the third richest man in America by Forbes magazine, wanted to keep Revlon in the name. "I was an advocate for the Perelman name," Tanenbaum said. "I suggested to the Revlon people that it would reflect a lot better on Mr. Perelman and his generosity." He added that his committee actively debated the name in light of student concerns, but said that in the end they could find nothing that was inherently wrong with using the Revlon name. Trustee Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker said last night that the resolution will be debated in today's facilities and campus planning committee meeting, but declined to speculate on whether the Trustees would pass the Revlon Center name at its full meeting tomorrow. The Trustees have committee meetings all day today and tomorrow morning, and the full meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge.

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