Busy Professors Reach For Their Pocketbooks

By defending celebrities in highly publicized cases, Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz has used the courtroom to make powerful political statements. And he has made just as significant political assertions with his checkbook as well.

Harvard administrators and professors constantly balance their University responsibilities for teaching and research with their personal lives.

But because the nationally prominent and politically inclined Harvard faculty often find it difficult to ignore the national elections, they find ways to support their candidates in spite of their academic commitments.

Demands of Country and University

For scholars of business, law and the social sciences--among other fields--the months leading up to the presidential elections can be busy indeed as opportunities to participate in the country's public life vie with lectures to give and papers to grade.

Demands of Country and University

University President Neil L. Rudenstine says that the University hopes that professors and administrators' duty to the school would not conflict with their participation in the country's politics.

"One thing we have always said and believed is that nothing that individual professors do with their work should [conflict] in any way with being full citizens of the United States."

But Rudenstine also says that professors and administrators have to watch their time commitments to both the University and to their political involvement.

Some balance the pulls of academia and the political arena by alternating time in one realm and the other.

Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society Barbara E. Johnson says that she has participated in political campaigns before, but that she has recently not had the resources to do so.

"It's not that I have made a decision not to [actively support candidates or issues], but just that there has been a definite lack of time," she says.

Others are simply too busy.

Associate Dean of Harvard College David P. Illingworth '71 says that he is not supporting anyone in the upcoming presidential election. Even so, Illingworth says that this is not because of ambivalence or disinterest in politics.

"I have opinions, but I don't really have time to be involved in political campaigns," he says.

Resorting to the Checkbook

Some professors and administrators who balance their roles at the University with their desire to participate in politics have turned to donating money in lieu of their time.

Professor of History James T. Kloppenberg, a specialist in American social thought, says that money donations are one of the most effortless and least time-straining ways to support a candidate or political party--a big draw for busy scholars.

"I guess when time is a scarce resource and you also have the money, [monetary donations] are what people often tend to do," he said.

Johnson says that political candidate supporters' donations of money can be as effective as donations of time.

"If you want the candidate of your choice elected, then anything you can do to support them is better than nothing at all," she says.

But Agassiz Professor of Biological Oceanography in the Museum of Comparative Zoology James T. McCarthy says that he disagrees that Harvard professors and administrators are any busier than other professionals and workers.

"Why would Harvard professors have any less time to donate to political campaigns than engineers or lawyers or doctors?" he says. "And for that matter, there is no difference between Harvard University faculty and that of any other educational institution."

Van Vleck Professor of Pure and Natural Physics Paul C. Martin says that time should not be a consideration in political support and participation.

"If people feel strongly about an issue or a candidate, they should contribute whether they have the time or not," he says.

McCarthy, who says he has donated money to political campaigns since he became old enough to vote, says that people wanting to contribute to politics but who have limited free time should consider how their skills would provide the most influence. He says that written editorials, lectures to specific groups of people, and monetary donations are all valuable contributions to the political process.

"I would like to think that the written word rather than money would be more effective," he says.

But Kloppenberg says that financial support can be both more effective and feasible.

"I feel that the most direct kind of candidate support is the financial support of a campaign," Kloppenberg said.

Faculty Political Support of the Past

But a lack of time has not always been the motivation to donate money to political campaigns or issues.

Kloppenberg says that his first monetary donation to a candidate was in support of McGovern for President in 1972 when he was an undergraduate at Dartmouth College.

"I think my $25 donation was more of a symbolic gesture than anything else," he says. "I was just doing my part to keep his campaign from being extinguished."

Illingworth, who says he does not intend to donate money during this presidential election cycle, says that he remembers participating in political campaigns in years past--and has the souvenirs to show for it.

"As I was moving, I came across a book in my book case," he said. "A little card type thing fell out and it said 'Humphey Muskey, 1968.'"

Barker Professor of Economics Stephen A. Marglin says that he has donated money to political campaigns in the past, but that he hasn't in recent memory.

"It was all some time ago, but I donated money and also contributed everything from menial stuff to providing ideas to candidates," he said.

Marglin says that he feels that his lack of participation in recent political campaigns is twofold, and that time restraints are not all to blame.

"I haven't participated recently because there are fewer candidates that I have anything in common with and because of the pressures of time," he says.

Johnson says that she also feels that the selection of candidates has discouraged her from contributing to campaigns in recent election cycles.

"If there was a candidate that was absolutely exciting, then I could see myself wanting to support him," she says. "But I haven't exactly been swept off my feet by any of the national candidates lately."

Kloppenberg says he is optimistic as to whether time restraints would permit him to participate in a political campaign in ways beyond money donations.

"I think it would have to depend on the candidate," he says. "If it was a candidate that I believed in, I would make the time."

Jenny E. Heller, Rachel P. Kovner, Joyce K. McIntyre and James Y. Stern contributed to the reporting of this article.