Divinity School Students React With Some Skepticism

Harvard Divinity School (HDS) students' initial reaction was skepticism when informed yesterday of a Boston Globe report that the former HDS Dean, Ronald F. Thiemann, had been forced to step down because he stored pornography on an office computer.

But many were also critical of the University's alleged handling of the situation, saying that Thiemann's behavior did not provide grounds for a forced resignation.

Andrew W. Ulman, a HDS student and member of the school's Student Association Executive Council, said, "It seems very fishy for the President's office to fire him. He didn't do anything illegal."

Another HDS student, Nathan S. Hall, also criticized the way the University had handled the debate.

"When they made him step down," Hall said, "there was a lot of suspicion about what was going on. I mean, he resigned in the middle of exams."

In addition, Hall did not like the way the media had converged on the Divinity School. He said blame for the situation should fall on President Neil L. Rudenstine, whom Thiemann met with shortly before he resigned.

Thiemann resigned during the middle of HDS exams last semester, a sudden move that students said raised suspicions across campus.

"The way Harvard made their decision, all the media in the world

came here when the first allegations surfaced," Hall said. "There was no good reason for him departing [in November]."

"I am not interested in heaping any amount of guilt and blame on a man because of his sexuality," Ulman said.

Other students were more guarded in their responses, weary of the national media that had come to campus in the wake of the Globe story.

"The way the University, the President's office, whatever, handled the whole event, I think it was badly done," said one student at the library who did not wish to be identified.

"If they had had him step down at the end of the year, there would not have been as much suspicion," he said.

At the cafeteria, one student also disapproved of the administration's handling of the case, saying "the way they forced him to resign and the time he resigned was bad."

Students met with acting Dean J. Bryan Hehir Wednesday to voice their concerns and ask any questions.