Harvard Kisses Henry Good-bye

The Government Department announced last week that neither the substance nor the soul of presidential adviser Henry A. Kissinger '50, will continue to inhabit Harvard formally.

In a decision reached Monday night, the Department voted to terminate its unusual policy of holding Kissinger's chair in reserve, awaiting his possible return. The chair had been vacant since January 1969, when Kissinger left Harvard for the White House.

The Government Department decided that its own teaching needs and the availability of other qualified candidates for Kissinger's position made any further extension of the foreign policy adviser's leave of absence impossible.

But the Department's decision does not mean that Kissinger can never teach at Harvard again. When and if Kissinger decides he wants to come back, the Department could, if it chose to, recommend his reappointment to President Bok.

Or else the President could on his own appoint Kissinger to a University Professorship, much in the same way that President Pusey brought former U.S. Ambassador Edwin O. Reischauer back to Harvard after an overdue leave of absence.