Economics faculty support prof's integrity

The resident tenured faculty members of the Economics Department have unanimously voiced their support for the academic and personal integrity of their colleague, Economics Professor David Cass. In a letter printed in Monday's Daily Pennsylvanian, the professors publicly recorded their support for Cass "not only as an outstanding scholar and teacher of graduate students, but as a leader in the graduate group in economics." Cass, who is now threatening to leave the University, was refused an appointment to acting chair of the department last month because of a romantic relationship with former Economics graduate student Claudia Stachel, and other rumored relationships with different graduate students. "We thought it was important that we let the University community know that the department originally and still does have the utmost confidence in David Cass' integrity," said Andrew Postlewaite, chairperson of the Economics Department. "I have no idea what effect it will have. We just want to let people know that we think he is superbly qualified." The other tenured faculty agreed with Postlewaite. "To my knowledge, he is an excellent teacher and a superb scholar," said Economics Professor Masahisa Fujita. "It's just a gesture of confidence in him professionally," said Wilfred Ethier, another tenured professor in the department. In an interview earlier this week, Cass acknowledged the response and said that he was "very, very gratified to have received absolute, unqualified support" from both faculty and the majority of graduate students. But he added that he has been appalled at the lack of reaction from the University administration, namely University President Judith Rodin and Provost Stanley Chodorow. "It's almost inconceivable to me that the administration won't try to make amends in the face of such complete?opposition by those directly involved," Cass said. He added, though, that "the administration's behavior up to this point has been so bizarre?that I still have no idea what will happen." In an interview last night, Rodin declined to comment on the situation, saying only that "this is an issue that is being dealt with by the provost who is the responsible authority for these types of situations." But Cass remains firm on his decision to leave barring a public apology from Provost Stanley Chodorow, the firing or resignation of Vice Provost for Graduate Studies Janice Madden and "a tangible indication that the University cares about intellectual matters including graduate education and research." "In this case," Cass said, "poor Ben Franklin -- hardly known as an uptight Puritan, or, as far as I know, a misogynist -- would surely have a paroxysm in his grave."