A Thought on Harvard and Shleifer
Not so long ago, I had a conversation with an esteemed member of the Harvard faculty about the mood among the professoriat. I mused that the faculty seemed inert, ignorant of and uncaring about the Andrei Shleifer scandal.
The professor corrected me, saying that I was wrong and that the faculty cared very much—it just wasn't sure what to do. After all, the faculty had gone public last spring in the no-confidence vote, and look what had happened? Nothing. In fact, public opinion was divided between supporting the faculty and trashing them as irresponsible, spoiled, left-wing nutjobs. So where was the good in going public?
But it seems to me that, from a strategic point of view, it makes far more sense to go public on the Shleifer matter...simply because there is absolutely no good argument for keeping him on the faculty. How would Larry Summers argue that there is virtue in retaining a criminal who stole taxpayer money and cost the university $35 million?
(I mean, Summers might try...in which case, you just sit back and let him machine-gun himself in the foot.)
This is not a public relations war that any Shleifer defender could possibly win; there are no merits from which to argue his position. How would it look for the president of Harvard to be compelled to explain his inaction on the matter? (Much less his repeated interventions on Shleifer's behalf.) The second a New York Times reporter called Mass Hall for comment, Shleifer's fate would be sealed.
So here's a suggestion: Forget about the internal mechanisms for dealing with such a problem. They've all been subverted, corrupted, and negated. Instead, do that most American of things—circulate a petition.
It could read something like this:
"As a member of the Harvard community, I believe that Harvard University should stand for truth, excellence, and honesty. I also believe that Harvard should strive to guide its students in moral behavior. Professor Andrei Shleifer, who has long enjoyed the active support of President Lawrence Summers, has admitted that he conspired to defraud the United States government. As a result, Harvard has been forced to pay fines and legal fees totalling over $30 million—money that could have been used to provide scholarships for thousands of students.
"Professor Shleifer's actions damage the reputation of Harvard University, violate the high standards of integrity we expect from a member of the Harvard faculty. The ongoing inaction on the part of the Harvard administration sends the message to our undergraduate students that one can break the laws of the United States yet still remain a member of the Harvard faculty in good standing.
"Therefore, I call upon University president Lawrence Summers to cease his actions on behalf of Professor Andrei Shleifer, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences William Kirby to take immediate action regarding Professor Shleifer's employment at Harvard."
E-mail the thing around, and then, when you get a few hundred signatures, shoot it over to Marcella Bombardieri at the Boston Globe and Patrick Healy at the New York Times.
The Harvard faculty is only inert if it chooses to be....and I think it has more power than it realizes. But that power is collective...and this is not a group that frequently or readily acts in concert. Now would be a good time to do just that.
