Giamatti Says Ivy Booster Within Rules

The Council of Ivy Group Presidents announced yesterday it "does not believe there have been any violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association policy either by students or individuals" in the relationships between a wealthy New Haven, Conn., resident and scores of Ivy League students over the past two decades.

In a statement written by Yale president A. Barlett Giamatti on behalf of the council, however, the presidents also said loans the individual had made to 12 "students currently enrolled at...Harvard, Princeton, and Yale...constitute grounds for further examination."

The report comes after each school made an independent inquiry into the relationship of Richard Schiefflin, an heir to the Scribners publishing fortune, with students on their respective campuses.

The statement said that "an individual"--Schieffelin's name was never used--"had provided benefits including meals, accomodations, employment, vacations, trips and loans, to undergraduate students at a number of Ivy Group institutions."

President Bok yesterday declined to comment on the Group's statement, saying he had agreed with the other presidents to let Giamatti serve as spokesman for the Ivy Group.

Giamatti could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The presidents delegated the task of coordinating the investigation of the loans to James M. Litvack, executive director of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents.

After conferring with school officials at Harvard. Princeton and Yale, and with the 12 students. Litvack "has been asked to make...the final judgment on the athletic eligibility of these twelve students," Giamatti's statement said.

"The schools have been instructed to generate some additional information and forward it to me." Litvack said yesterday at Ivy Group headquarters in Princeton, N.J.

John B. Fox Jr. '60, dean of the College, who coordinated the first investigation of Schieffelin's activities at Harvard, yesterday declined to comment on the continuing investigation.

The presidents accepted the conclusion by the council's policy committee that Schieffelin's actions--with the possible exception of the loans--did not place any student over the "commonly accepted educational expenses," as defined by the NCAA.

The council also concluded that the "receipt of these benefits was not a factor, directly or indirectly, in the recruitment or the enrollment decisions of the students involved."

Earlier reports said Schieffelin associated frequently with football players--particularly at Yale--but was friendly with non-athletes as well.