Close, But No Cigar

Two weeks ago we despaired over the situation in Dunster House. We argued that House Master Karel F. Liem had apparently learned nothing from last spring's crisis over tutor hirings and that his most recent changes in policy were but a facade behind which rank indifference, if not outright malfeasance, was the rule of the day in Dunster. In a situation where Liem refused to admit any wrongdoing and Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, was quoted as saying that everything was "up to the house master," it seemed that Dunster House was in for another year of mismanagement and cronyism.

This week, things look a little brighter. Jewett and other College officials belatedly acted to improve the oppressive environment in Dunster House. Liem (no doubt prodded by these senior officials and by the realization that his tenure as the Master of Dunster was up for review this year) made a public apology for his handling of the affair and announced several positive changes in the way in which tutor hirings will be conducted in the future.

Among the best of these were the changes affecting how long former Dunster students must wait before becoming tutors. Liem agreed to reduce the five year interim he proposed last month to four. He also agreed to exempt current tutors from the restrictions; his previous decision not to do so was viewed by some as an effort to get rid of David Bear '92, a Dunster tutor who has been an outspoken critic of Liem.

Liem has promised to work with students to revise the tutor hiring system developed by Liem this year. In an effort to stem criticism that a pre-med committee co-chaired by Vincent and William Li (the centers of the controversy last spring) would be biased, Liem announced that he would act as a third chair of the committee. Furthermore, he affirmed his pledge that Dunster Senior Tutor Mark Mueller would review recommendations before they are mailed to medical schools. And while Liem still backs his protege Vince Li, he has announced his intention to remove him from the newly set up advisory committee.

These are all good signs, but that is all they are. If Liem, Jewett and the University Administration truly wish to regain the confidence of the students and tutors they let down last spring, they must do the following things:

Place at least one undergraduate member on the new advisory committee and academically diversify the remaining membership. Under the current system, the people whose lives are affected most by tutors have the least say in selecting them. The advisory committee as it now stands is packed with natural scientists (Liem's own background) ill-suited to select tutors with a broad range of interests and backgrounds. In fact, there is already a gross disparity among tutor fields in Dunster. In a house packed with humanities and social science concentrators, English tutors are scarce and science tutors abound.

Replace Liem as the third chair of the pre-med committee with someone now connected with the affair. Liem appointed himself to this post at last Wednesday's meeting, but students need a pre-med chair not implicated in this affair.

Change the rationale that Liem announced will now be used to decide whether or not to hire (or retain) tutors. Dismissing someone for being "disruptive to the House community" or a "poor role model" or for their "inability to work in a team setting" leaves a lot of room open for arbitrary decisions and, by implication, seems to discourage the free exchange of ideas. Using these criteria, the Li brothers should have been fired a long time ago. Liem should lay out specific, objective criteria and stick to them.

Remove Vincent and William Li from Dunster House. Regardless of the issue of nepotism, anyone with the poor judgment to threaten libel suits against those who criticized their behavior last spring should be in no position to act similarly vindictively towards undergraduates or other tutors. Karel Liem has endorsed their actions, but the Li brothers are the ones directly responsible for the atmosphere in Dunster House, an atmosphere in which tutors are threatened and pre-medical students remain silent for fear that their applications will be sabotaged. Neither of the Lis has made any move to apologize. Neither has demonstrated the ability to act effectively as a tutor. Both should be fired.

Finally, Liem must go. Two weeks of glasnost do not make up for six months of fear. He did what he had to do at the behest of the Administration. His past favoritism for the Li brothers and his past witchhunts for people who spoke out on the issue cannot be forgotten. It is our hope that Liem will see the writing on the wall and retire gracefully to his lab. Failing that, the Harvard administration should learn a few lessons itself and force Liem to go.

Such actions would continue the fledgling efforts toward making Dunster a more hospitable place for both tutors and undergraduates. And they would go a long way toward proving that the Harvard Administration is capable of doing more than singing "Abide With Me."