Hurdles Face Stauder In Bid for Rehiring

Jack R. Stauder '61, instructor in Social Anthropology, will have to jump two high hurdles to remain at Harvard after this year. Either the permanent members of the Soc Rel department or the Corporation can prevent Stauder's reappointment.

The permanent members of the Soc Rel department met yesterday and after discussing Stauder for an hour could not decide what rank and length appointment, if any, to recommend him for. Last month these same men met and, after much debate, finally voted to follow the Corporation's recommendation on Stauder, denying him

a promotion from instructor to lecturer for two more years,

a $1,000 pay raise,

the right to teach during the first semester this year.

So right now Stauder is stuck with first semester suspension and no promotion for the second semester-just what the Corporation had suggested.

The permanent members will meet again in early December, and Roger W. Brown, chairman of the Soc Rel department, has promised a decision by December 15-the date specified by the American Association of University Professors' guidelines.

NEWS ANALYSIS

One problem in reaching a decision is the large variety of recommendations being made in the Stauder case. Suggestions have ranged from not rehiring him to making him an assistant professor.

It might be possible to reach consensus over a less extreme proposal such as giving Stauder a one-year appointment under the terms he would have had before the University Hall occupation in which he was arrested.

Early next week the Social Anthropology wing of the department will probably meet to see if they can reach agreement on any one specific proposal.

Consensus is vital because if the department's vote is close. Stauder will have difficulty jumping his second hurdle, the Corporation.

The Corporation normally rubber stamps the recommendations of any department in hiring policy. But the Stauder case has been exceptional, and the Corporationcould easily interpret any large minority vote against Stauder as a mandate for the Corporation to overturn the department's decision.

The Corporation can reappoint Stauder without losing face. In September the Corporation adopted a statement saying that Stauder's first semester suspension will afford him "an opportunity to demonstrate by his conduct that he is prepared to accept the responsibilities which go with an appointment as an officer of instruction in this University."

As memories of the April takeover and Stander's radical course Soc Rel 149 fade away, Stander can more readily present himself to his colleagues as a rational social anthropologist rather than a high-strung radical.

The permanent members will weigh Stander's burden of running the radical course Soc Rel 149 last spring against his lack of publishing last year.