EDITORIAL: A slap in the face

Bringing new, tenuredBringing new, tenuredfaculty members to theBringing new, tenuredfaculty members to theUniversity when juniorBringing new, tenuredfaculty members to theUniversity when juniorfaculty here are being deniedBringing new, tenuredfaculty members to theUniversity when juniorfaculty here are being deniedtenure doesn't make sense.Bringing new, tenuredfaculty members to theUniversity when juniorfaculty here are being deniedtenure doesn't make sense._______________________________ Numerous reasons have been posited for the Personnel Committee's decision, including the area of scholarship in which Camfield specializes, American literature. The English Department didn't need another Americanist, according to the rumors. But wait! Yesterday, English Undergraduate Chairperson Al Filreis revealed that two new tenured professors will join the department in the fall. And wouldn't you know it, both specialize in American literature. Why would the University promote one of its own if deals for high-priced, high-profile stars studying similar sub-disciplines were already in the works? Wooing tenured faculty members away from top-notch schools like the universities of Chicago and Michigan, where Penn's newest profs are now teaching, is not an overnight process. To entice scholars already established in their fields to change their academic allegiances mid-stream, the University probably spends more hours negotiating, wining and dining than most corporations do on Wharton seniors each fall. Maybe we've now discovered the true cause of the Personnel Committee's action, as well as the reason the English Department did not unanimously back Camfield's first tenure bid. This kind of back-biting belongs in elementary school and maybe middle school, but not in the hallowed halls of academia, admittedly political as they are. Students come to the University to receive an education, and we expect to learn from the best possible professors. Quality in teaching and relating to undergraduates, however, can stem as much from first-hand experience with this community as from the name of the institution where someone is presently teaching or the name on his degree. We urge the University to reconsider its methods of recruiting new faculty members and reexamine how it evaluates graduate students or junior faculty who want to retain their positions here. After all, we're taught that judging a book by its cover is a ridiculous way to analyze literature -- and using this method to add to the University's professoriate is equally ludicrous.