Arbitrate the Hiatt Affair

THE six-year conflict between the faculty of the School of Public Health and its dean, Howard Hiatt, has now involved the school's Alumni Council--where threats have been made to actively disrupt any fundraising efforts on behalf of the school until the faculty and Hiatt come to "just terms."

After President Bok issued his "full and renewed support" for Hiatt two months ago, Hiatt said, "As far as I'm concerned the argument is over. It's time to get back to work." But the argument didn't die. Instead, Bok's remarks to the faculty have further polarized the school and now angered the Alumni Council, whose president wrote Bok an angry letter last month in protest of Bok's "chastising" of the faculty.

Many faculty members have praised Hiatt's goals for the school, but they have also complained that Hiatt disregards their opinions. Consequently, the faculty feel they have no input into school policy. Like the faculty, the Alumni Council hopes to see a concrete agreement between the two groups, giving the faculty "an equal share" of responsibility in the school's decision-making.

For about a year now, Hiatt has been contemplating a $40 million fund drive for the school. Alumni Council dissenters--who threaten to communicate with possible donors and ask them to withhold their contributions--could seriously damage both the financial standing and integrity of the school. A faculty which promises to incessantly protest Hiatt's presence does little to help the matter. Something clearly needs to be done, aside from Bok's chiding of the faculty.

Dr. Paul Torrens, the president of the Alumni Council, suggested on August 14 that an impartial committee be appointed to evaluate the directions of the school. This suggestion was politely dismissed by Bok on August 30, who wrote, "Since the dissident faculty will not admit that they are disputing the dean's objectives, their concern will not be alleviated by such a review."

CONTRARY to Bok's appraisal of the faculty's honesty, it is not the direction of Hiatt's administration that bothers the faculty, but Hiatt's method of administration. The faculty does not feel it has any definitive say in the direction of the school. What they want--and what the Alumni Council wants for them--is a concrete proposal giving them a vote.

If neither Hiatt nor Bok is willing to initiate such a proposal, then an impartial committee should be appointed to reconcile the conflicting parties. If Hiatt's claims that his administration has been fair and straight are true, then he has nothing to fear from such a committee. Members of the senior faculty have backed the idea, and certainly, it can only help a situation which now dangerously threatens to undercut the integrity and financial base of America's oldest school of public health.