LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Defending Dean Stevens

To the Editor: The School of Arts and Sciences has certainly not abandoned its effort to attract highly regarded senior professors, as is evident in the list of recent hires and offers. My department, for example, has just added one of the nation's most distinguished sociologists to its faculty, and the Economics Department has just hired two outstanding senior economists. Nor has the Dean decided "to make cannon fodder of the on-board assistant professors." In fact, the Dean's discretion in this matter is very limited by the existence of a faculty committee that is principally responsible for tenure decisions and by the ultimate authority of the provost in personnel matters. Within her narrow compass, Dean Stevens' stance regarding the promotion of assistant professors appears identical to those of earlier deans: highly supportive of the highly qualified, and not highly supportive of those who are not. Dean Stevens has provided exceptional enthusiasm and resources for efforts by the Sociology Department to add and retain African-American faculty members and to provide funding for graduate students from racial minorities. During her deanship, we have made considerable progress in these directions. The charges of racism are completely at variance with Dean Stevens' attitudes and behavior. I hope that Houston Baker repudiates the remarks that are attributed to him. They do a great deal of harm not only to Dean Stevens but also to the community of which she is a part. Samuel Preston Demography Professor n To the Editor: I am appalled by the tone and ignorance shown in Mike Nadel's attack on Rosemary Stevens ("Rosemary's Time," DP 3/24/95). Given the nature of the enterprise, there are bound to be disagreements with the Dean. Nevertheless, in all of my dealings with Dean Stevens, she has always acted with integrity and courage, and with the best interests of the School of Arts and Sciences in mind. It is unfortunate that she must experience such an ill-informed attack in addition to the inherent and real challenges of her job. Andrew Postlewaite Economics Department Chairperson