Report: Slash Staff of Semitic Museum

A Faculty report released yesterday recommends that the Semitic Museum reduce its commitment to public exhibitions and slash the size of its staff in order to cut its accumulated deficit of approximately $1 million.

The report, released only to members of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department and staff of the Semitic Museum, calls for the financially-strapped museum to relocate its ethnographic and photographic collections to other museums. It says the museum should refocus on its core ancient and medieval collections and the "educational and research needs of the university and scholarly community."

The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Crimson, also calls for an approximately two-thirds reduction in the museum's staff (currently at 6.34 full-time positions) and proposes that all curators be members of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department. Neither the current executive director nor any of the curators are faculty members of that department.

"Our whole purpose was to bring the Semitic Museum into conformity with the rest of the University museums," said Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel Lawrence E. Stager '65, who chairs the committee.

The report was written by a Faculty of Arts and Sciences committee convened in August 1992. It was released to Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations faculty and museum staff in order to provoke discussion of its recommendations, Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said yesterday.

Knowles declined to comment on the report's findings yesterday, saying he wanted to wait for faculty to read the report and react to it.

But in a letter dated October 29, Knowles saidthe museum's leaves "no satisfactory alternative"to cuts.

"I cannot argue with the priorities listed inthe report, and I can see no possible alternative(other than even more drastic measures) to thesolutions proposed," Knowles wrote in the letter.

The report says that the museum's "limitedfinancial and human resources...have been spreadtoo broadly."

"Attention paid to the photographic collectionsand to the promotion of travelingexhibitions...has, inevitably, reduced theattention that could be given to developing theancient and medieval collections," the reportsays.

Ninety percent of the museum's deficit has beenincurred by the Photo Archive Account and theExhibits/Public Programs Account, the report says.

While the report recommends the Semitic Museumremain open to the public, it "suggests that inthe future the Museum consider merging its publicprogram with an integrated University Museums ofCultural and Natural History public program."

And "outreach" activities such as exhibitionsand discussions of modern Middle Eastern societiesare "better pursued in other forums at Harvard,"the report says.

New links between the Semitic Museum and otherHarvard museums, including shared staff members,are called for in the report.

Space concerns are also addressed in thereport, which endorses an earlier recommendationthat the museum occupy the first and second floorsof 6 Divinity Ave. The Near Eastern Languages andCivilizations Department would occupy the thirdand fourth floors of the building, according tothe plan

But in a letter dated October 29, Knowles saidthe museum's leaves "no satisfactory alternative"to cuts.

"I cannot argue with the priorities listed inthe report, and I can see no possible alternative(other than even more drastic measures) to thesolutions proposed," Knowles wrote in the letter.

The report says that the museum's "limitedfinancial and human resources...have been spreadtoo broadly."

"Attention paid to the photographic collectionsand to the promotion of travelingexhibitions...has, inevitably, reduced theattention that could be given to developing theancient and medieval collections," the reportsays.

Ninety percent of the museum's deficit has beenincurred by the Photo Archive Account and theExhibits/Public Programs Account, the report says.

While the report recommends the Semitic Museumremain open to the public, it "suggests that inthe future the Museum consider merging its publicprogram with an integrated University Museums ofCultural and Natural History public program."

And "outreach" activities such as exhibitionsand discussions of modern Middle Eastern societiesare "better pursued in other forums at Harvard,"the report says.

New links between the Semitic Museum and otherHarvard museums, including shared staff members,are called for in the report.

Space concerns are also addressed in thereport, which endorses an earlier recommendationthat the museum occupy the first and second floorsof 6 Divinity Ave. The Near Eastern Languages andCivilizations Department would occupy the thirdand fourth floors of the building, according tothe plan