Tenure: Eye of the Storm

The Law School tenure process is, some say, the major battlefield of the political split. And with the dearth of appointments of professors from other law schools in the past five years, attention has focused on the junior faculty.

This year between four and six assistant professors--all of whom were hired during the current tenure stalemate, and all of whom are generally considered liberal or radical--may come up for tenure decisions. A number of others, including Assistant Professor of Law Clare Dalton, will be up for promotion next year.

Promotion to a lifetime post at the Law School requires the approval of the Appointments Committee, followed by a two-thirds vote of the senior faculty.

Many observers believe that one-third of the faculty is staunchly conservative and another one-third is staunchly liberal, so that voting blocs on both sides are potentially able to prevent politically-opposed professors from gaining faculty approval.

Unlike the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, tenure promotion at the Law School is generally routine, and no junior faculty member has been denied tenure since 1969. However, if all or most of the professors being considered over the next two years are promoted, the balance of power at the Law School will shift leftward dramatically.

"The conservatives have felt insecure because many of those junior professors, even though they were hired on all the tradition bases, came in the door and it became apparent quite quickly that they were influenced by the left wing and were going to vote with the left wing," said one liberal faculty member.

President Bok, former dean of the Law School, has been rumored to be considering intervention in the promotion decision process.

Further, in order to avoid a showdown, the faculty has discussed the possibility of lengthening the traditional stint for junior faculty members. Many observers believe that conservatives are pushing for this extension in order to maintain greater control of faculty decisions.