Professors Say Silber Purges B.U.

Five Boston University (B.U.) professors whom the administration is seeking to fire or suspend yesterday accused B.U. President John R. Silber of trying to purge his critics from the faculty.

State Rep. Mel King will introduce legislation within the next three weeks calling for a state investigation of B.U. to see if the university is living up to its charter, Howard Zinn, professor of political science said yesterday at a crowded press conference at B.U.

Salvador E. Luria, a Nobel laureate and institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said yesterday he is circulating a letter at several universities--including Harvard--calling on professors not to perform administrative courtesies for B.U. until it drops charges against the professors.

Signers of the letter will still perform academic services such as giving lectures--but they will decline offers to serve on visiting committees or write letters of recommendation for B.U. positions, Luria said.

Luria said Mary Nolan, assistant professor of History, and Everett I. Mendelsohn, professor of History of Science, are coordinating the effort to circulate the letter at Harvard. Nolan and Mendelsohn were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Two students yesterday announced formation of a student group to save the jobs of the five professors, who taught classes off campus for a few days at the beginning of this term rather than cross picket lines of striking clerical workers. The administration then began procedures to fire or suspend the professors.

The College of Liberal Arts forum, a student government organization representing 4500 undergraduates, voted Wednesday to demand that the trustees fire Silber. The administration's effort to fire the professors was the "last straw" that led the students to seek the ouster of Silber, Jon C. Hopwood, a delegate to the forum, said yesterday.

The vote in the forum was 14 to 2 with one abstention. Hopwood said the vote reflected general student opinion on campus that Silber should be fired.

Robert C. Bergenheim, B.U. vice-president for labor and public relations, yesterday strongly objected to criticisms of Silber.

Referring to Luria as "this jerk across the river," Bergenheim said a small group of vociferous Silber critics had blown the issue way out of proportion and that the professors were inflaming tensions by making irresponsible statements.

Bergenheim said the professors had in effect held a sympathy strike--in violation of their contracts--and could not expect to escape punishment.

The administration had hoped to settle the dispute in a quiet meeting between the professors and the provost, Bergenheim said. In a quieter setting the problems might have been resolved without firing or suspending the professors, he added.

Bergenheim said the many controversies at B.U. demonstrate the university's academic freedom. "How could those five professors make these irrational statements if what they said were true? If John Silber had the power to whip people into line, they would have been whipped out of line a long time ago," Bergenheim said