Edley Criticizes Rudenstine Report

A Law School professor who authored the Clinton Administration's review of affirmative action blasted President Neil L. Rudenstine's arguments in support of diversity in higher education, in a speech before a national law association this weekend.

The president's case for diversity is grounded in shaky premises and is ultimately unpersuasive, Professor of Law Christopher F. Edley Jr. told several hundred law professors at the Association of American Law Schools' annual meeting.

Overall, Rudenstine's report on diversity within the University, which was issued last year, was not "sufficient to convince a judge or political figure," Edley told

Rudenstine was out of town and could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Conservative opponents of affirmative action, especially Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. '53, have been vocal in their criticism of Rudenstine's report.

But Edley's remarks are the first evidence that left-leaning faculty members are also dissatisfied with the president's position on diversity.

Rudenstine's argument, although "eloquently" put, rested on three weak premises, Edley said.

The report tried to prove that diversity was important, Edley said, because "Harvard believed in it for a long time, lots of dead social philosophers have talked about it for a long time and lots of other educators agree that it's important."

In addition to being "too celebratory of Harvard's history and not honest enough about Harvard's failings, like the anti-Semitic quotas," Edley said Rudenstine's report did not aim for a wide enough audience.

"As a piece of advocacy, it was incomplete and unpersuasive to the judicial and political audiences that I spend my time worrying about," he said. "It was an inside-the-family discussion and I think it was fine for that limited audience and purpose."

Edley said the problem with Rudenstine's argument lay partially in its lack of hard evidence. But the necessary evidence does not yet exist, Edley said.

Speaking Out

Rudenstine's diversity report is also flawed in that it addresses only the higher education community, rather than the policymaking establishment, Edley said. Like many of today's university presidents, Rudenstine appears reluctant to enter the national debate.

"My concern is, are higher education leaders doing enough to teach the country about the value of inclusion? Basically, no, they're not," Edley said.

"The issue is raging around the county: where should the nation be going on racial and gender justice?" Edley said. "This is an issue on which leaders at Harvard and other institutions should be vocal, but I haven't seen it."

Rudenstine's leadership on the issue of diversity is unquestioned within academia, Edley said. However, the silence of Harvard's president in the wider public forum worries the law professor.

"My concern is that this war isn't going to be won on the intramural field of higher education," Edley said. "It's a bigger field of play."