West Out of Touch With Reality

To the editors:

The ongoing spat between Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74 and University President Lawrence H. Summers is yet another example of how utterly out of touch members of academia are with reality (Editorial, “A Little Tact Goes a Long Way,” Jan. 7).

Try as they might to disguise the fact, faculty members are employees of Harvard University, and Summers is their boss. For such a simple concept, it is suprisingly difficult for West to grasp. He is being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to engage in scholarly research, so why is everyone outraged that he is being compelled to hold up his end of the contract?

You castigate Summers for his lack of tact. If there is any blame, it should be laid upon West for his shameless race-baiting. By accusing Summers of shirking his responsibility to racial diversity, West is attempting to obscure what this whole conflict is about: his bruised ego.

Eric B. Hart ’03

Jan. 8, 2002