Make Liem Accountable

When Dunster tutors and students raised concerns about what they perceived as unfair hiring practices--the alleged influence of Dunster House Assistant Senior Tutor Vincent W. Li '87 in the hiring of his brother, his girlfriend and two longtime friends--they soon discovered they had nowhere to turn.

This university overflows with resources and administrators; one would think that students and tutors with serious grievances would find numerous routes for redress. But the normal channels seemed closed for the Dunster House tutors. They said they feared retribution if they took their concerns to Masters Karel and Hetty Liem. And when they appealed to Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57--who is supposed to have administrative authority over the house system--they said they were told he could do nothing unless somebody filed a formal complaint.

Dunster's turmoil results from two problems: lack of student involvement, and lack of accountability. It would be easy to remedy the first. The tutor hiring process should be standardized across all houses. Student committees should play a large role in reviewing candidates and should have greater influence over hiring decisions. In Dunster House, Owen Young placed last on the students' list of candidates for a music tutorship, but the Liems hired him anyway.

The second problem--the administration's lack of response to serious ethical questions--is harder to address, and far more disturbing. Harvard has rules against nepotism; it should be up to University officials to make sure those rules are followed. Yet with the current administrative frame-work, Jewett lacks any real influence over house masters. The dean was all but paralyzed, even when students and tutors said they were afraid to speak out or sign petitions because they feared repercussions. This alleged infringement on free expression is perhaps the most nefarious result of the entire Dunster debacle.

But beyond the institutional questions, there is an even larger problem at Dunster House: Karel Liem. His handling of the Nobel Ignatiev case last spring was despicable, too. When Ignatiev, a non-resident tutor, spoke out about, of all things, a kosher toaster, he was, as Liem would say, "non-rehired"--the tutorial equivalent of a firing.

Now Liem's spending his days walking the house halls, trying to find out the names of the tutors who dared to tell the truth. He's made no effort to fix the situation, rein in Li, or reform the hiring process. If there's no accounting for these problems or changes in policy by the end of the school year, President Rudenstine should step in, fire Li, and replace Liem with someone who understands the principle of free speech by next fall.

The house system is here for the benefit of undergraduates. It isn't supposed to be a set of independent fiefdoms, in which masters have exclusive control over tutoring staffs and disciplinary systems.

But the current administrative structure--or lack thereof--makes it seem that way. We expect that house staffs be forced to live up to the principles--and the ethics--of the University. And we expect that University officials will exercise their power to make sure that happens.