Rudy Defends Hiring Record

President Neil L. Rudenstine defended Harvard's track record in hiring minority and women faculty at an open meeting at the Kennedy School of Government last night.

After a brief speech about the challenges facing higher education today, Rudenstine took questions from the 150-member audience for one hour.

Rudenstine said that deans and faculty members throughout the University are working hard to hire more minority and women faculty members. "You have to work with them," he said, addressing students in the audience.

Although he believes students should be consulted about general questions of hiring policy, Rudenstine said he does not believe that they should have a more formal role in the hiring process.

He said the issue is one of long-term accountability for hiring decisions. "The people making the decision are people who in a certain sense will have to live with that decision," he said, referring to faculty members and administrators.

Big Problem

In response to one student's question about the low rate of minority admissions to certain graduate-level Kennedy School programs, Rudenstine said, "Well, you're talking about a big problem."

He cited the small pool of minorities--particularly Blacks and Hispanics--entering some fields of graduate education as one factor limiting minority recruitment. Concerning the particular programs involved, Rudenstine said, "I'd like to see the numbers. I haven't seen the numbers on that."

Regarding the small number of Black professors at Harvard Law School, Rudenstine said, "It may or may not be a good track record. I think it's the best of any comparable law school."

Although none of the Law School's Black professors are women, Rudenstine said his most recent data shows that there are only two Black woman law professors at all comparable institutions combined.

On ROTC

One student asked Rudenstine about his recent statement that he has not yet decided whether Harvard should sever its remaining ties with the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).

The Faculty Council recommended two years ago that the University stop accepting scholarship money from ROTC unless the military ends its policy of barring gays and lesbians from military service, which conflicts with University anti-discrimination regulations.

Rudenstine stressed that the Council's move was a recommendation rather than a binding resolution. He said he believes a comprehensive review of the question is in order before any final decision is made.

"We ought to have a process that solicits views, that has the input of different people," he said.

Ultimately, the decision will be made by Rudenstine and by the dean of the Faculty, the president said. He added, however, that he will want to discuss a final plan with the University's governing boards "to the extent to which they wish to get involved."

Rudenstine said that the root of the question was how to best go about changing a policy held by an outside institution.

"Do you basically decide that you are going to change your own policy and set it, and [cut off ties with] anyone who doesn't conform to it within a certain amount of time?" he asked. "That's a judgment call."

One audience member asked Rudenstine if he thought it would be possible to get the entire University to follow the same academic calendar.

Rudenstine said there are academic reasons for each school's particular calendar, joking, "Next to parking, the most difficult thing to change on campus is the calendar."