Wrong Move to Right at IOP

The John F. Kennedy School continues its rightward shift with the appointment of former Republican Senator Alan K. Simpson as the director of the Institute of Politics (IOP). Last spring, the Kennedy School appointed Sheila Burke, the former chief of staff to then-Senator now-citizen Bob Dole, as its executive dean. And it has been bringing in right wing stars, including Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed.

Simpson plans to reside as a Resident Scholar in Eliot House, where he spent last spring semester, with his wife. But his public stances against immigration make us question whether, given his politics, he ought to help determine the make-up of speakers and study groups at the Kennedy School.

Simpson will be replacing Philip Sharp, a friendly, down-to-earth guy who always puts the IOP's dinner guests at ease. Sharp, a Democrat who has served in the House of Representatives, will continue to teach at the Kennedy School in addition to assuming increased duties at an environmental agency. We thank him for his service and wish him well.

A balance between conservatives and liberals is a productive stance for a non-partisan institution that has been perceived as so far on the left that House Speaker Newt Gingrich canceled the 1994 New Members of Congress Conference there and opted for the Heritage Foundation instead. But we hope, with the return of the conference and the new appointments of conservatives, that the Kennedy School's political balancing act is about finished. After all, if its increasing conservative focus increases any more, the partisan shift might blur its policy priorities.