Letters to the Editor

Faculty At Harvard are Bullies
       I thought the President of Harvard was a Clinton guy who gave a bundle of dough to the school. An organizational assessment of the conflict could demonstrate that the School of Arts and Sciences used its political weight to enforce a culturally symbolic paradigm that holds these principles, among others, as a worldview:
1) America is institutionally a racist nation (Cornell West).
2) The sexes are physically, emotionally and intellectually the same (Sociologist Mary Waters).
3) Society gives unfair advantages to white men.
4) No challenges to this body of profound truths shall be allowed or investigated.
       Reverse the roles of academia and society. Could Harvard's school of A&S survive a national confidence poll vis-à-vis its worldview? Apparently, the bullies in the Harvard schoolyard are the teachers.     
Bob Bertrand, Agawam MA

President of Harvard Was An Arrogant Bully
       While it is always comforting to attribute events to political reasons that support our beliefs, your story about the resignation of Pres. Summers at Harvard ignored the most likely cause. Many people at Harvard, conservative and liberal, considered him an arrogant bully. Unlike many corporations, campuses traditionally prefer decentralized, cooperative management, not autocracy.
Stephen Sossaman
Charlottesville, VA

Editors Comment: Thank you for your comment from the home of the University of Virginia. As you now know, we do not believe Summers to he a bully. To the contrary, his weakness at the beginning of his tenure led to this inevitable conclusion.