Named after Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud following his donations to his alma mater, a courtyard in Adelaide University is now the students’ source of shame.

NONE Rallying at the university's Taib Mahmud Courtyard tomorrow, the students said the protest would be held because they "refuse to accept that (their) education is...funded by the suffering of people, forests and animals".

"We will be demonstrating that we do not want Taib Mahmud ( left ), his family networks or his front companies having anything to do with higher education in South Australia," they said on their Facebook page.

"We refuse to have his presence on campus when we know what his name stands for and where this blood money comes from."

They would also be submitting a memorandum to Adelaide University vice-chancellor Warren Bebbington to change the name of the courtyard.

The courtyard was named after the controversial chief minister in December 2008 after Taib's multi-million dollar donation.

The university had in 2006 also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sarawak government for research collaboration, which includes 10 postgraduate scholarships.

According to the students, by rejecting association with Taib, they were also protesting against the destruction of Borneo rainforests, as well as rainforests in Tasmania by timber company Ta Ann.

NONE Ta Ann Holdings is chaired by Taib's cousin Hamid Sepawi ( left ), and has a Tasmanian subsidiary.

Ta Ann Tasmania said that it does not source timber from Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage areas while Taib had stressed that his government practiced sustainable logging .

According to the Australia National University website the New Mandala , Adelaide University's Student Representative Council had passed a resolution calling for the renaming of the courtyard in 2011 and had spent the next years negotiating with university management for this outcome.

Meanwhile, The Australian reported that the university had accepted Taib's donations "in good faith many years ago" and that no donations were received from Taib in more than seven years.

"The scholarships and facility named following Taib's gifts involve permanent trust obligations and agreements with which the university is bound to comply," a spokesperson was quoted as saying.