Faculty Dean Defends Policy on Tenure; Student Council to Examine Controversy

Lifting the shroud of official secrecy that has obscured "the case of the ten assistant professors," the Administration yesterday released a memorandum outlining its actions "previous and pursuant to the adoption of the Report of the Committee of Eight."

In a 1500 word document, drawn up last June by Dean Ferguson, the Administration has defended the discharge of the ten assistant professors as a budgetary necessity. Furthermore, the memorandum contends that the Administration leaned over backward in an attempt to retain as many assistant professors as possible.

"Did Not Act Hastily"

"Accordingly the Administration is not open to the charge of having proceeded hastily or ruthlessly; nor did it apply the new scheme of tenure mechanically," the memorandum states.

The Administration ordinarily sends out notices of non-reappointment to only one "class" of assistant professors at a time. Last spring, however, in accordance with the Committee of Eight's Report, such notices were given to two classes: those assistant professors whose terms were to expire in 1939, and those whose appointments ran until 1940.

This doubling up, according to the memorandum, "created the false impression that the percentage of non-reappointments was abnormally large. The fact is that it was not."

Fewer Discharges Than Usual

The report goes on to note that for the "class of 1939" the percentage of non-reappointments was 20%, and for the "class of 1940," 28.6%. Under the old tenure system, the number of dismissals in each of these classes would have totaled at least 50%, the memorandum states.

Pointing out that whereas "mechanical procedure" would limit the number of promotions to the existing number of vacancies in the associate professor rank, the memorandum argues that the Administration "computed the vacancies which would arise in the next ten years, and agreed that the Departments should enter their assistant professors in competition for them now. Obviously this put the present assistant professors in a favored position."

The Committee of Eight's report on tenure, adopted in principle by President Connat last spring, envisioned the gradual abolition of the rank of assistant professor, and a considerable increase in the number of permanent appointments at the permanent rank of associate professor.

Considered on Merits

According to the memorandum, "each man was considered on his merits, absolute and relative. . . . All the decisions reached in the spring of 1939 were made jointly by the Administration and the Departments concerned. Usually the departments were unanimous; in no Department was there more than one dissentient opinion."

Concerning the widespread protest aroused by the dismissal of the ten assistant professors, the memorandum says: "The men lot go were commonly "runners up" for permanent positions--men who lost out in competition, occasionally by very narrow margins.

"It is not surprising, therefore, that some of them were immediately offered distinguished positions elsewhere; nor is it surprising, considering their length of service at Harvard, that they had strong advocates both on the Faculty and among the students. If the winners had been let go, they would unquestionably have found like support.