Word: thompson
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...waters with the excellent HBO-produced Barbarians at the Gate (1993). With recent revelations about the birth of Joe Camel, the broadcast of this savvy comedy of business manners, about the takeover of RJR Nabisco, is fortuitously timed. You get Jim Garner and Jonathan Pryce (not to mention Fred Thompson). You laugh. You learn a little something. Sure, you can rent it, but CP says be on hand at eight for this dream marriage of news and moviedom...
Thus the published critique of Thompson that brought to light the partisan academica divide between the two men. And though Berkowitz knew of the potential intra-Harvard political consequences of his book review, he is now upset that his initial, negative predication might have come true. As evidence, he displayed-to the Nesson class a hand-written note from Thompson dated April 21, 1997, the same day he found out about the tenure denial, which read in part, "I have just learned that you were denied tenure...I was not able to support your candidacy...I hope to keep...
...part, Thompson says, "I am in a difficult position because I cannot speak about the substance of the case because of the general departmental policy that tenure deliberations are confidential. But I will say this: my actions in this case were limited to the usual role I play as a member of the government department as a part of the departmental discussion. I wrote a customary letter to the Dean [of FAS Knowles]. I don't normally [as a part-time University administrator] have any other role in FAS tenure decisions and I did not do anything other in this...
This forthrightness on Thompson's part, saying that he did not in fact recuse himself from the process of testifying before the President--even under the allegation of a readily-apparent conflict of interest--seems to undermine the claim of the Berkowitz camp that Thompson secretly intervened at the top levels of the administration to bias the ad hoc committee against Berkowitz. Thompson has made clear his professional disapproval of Berkowitz (through his negative department vote and this comment), and therefore had no need to subvert the process in order to affect the Berkowitz tenure decision. We will never know...
...regardless of the outcome of those two deliberations, the University community can begin to ask the substantive, moral questions that a deliberative democracy, as Thompson and Gutmann argue, should. We should wonder whether public hearings might not better suit a tenure debate than backroom politicking. Though the case is far from resolved, and we don't know whether there was a liberal-conservative deal at the departmental level, and we don't know whether there was behind-the-scenes manipulation of the ad hoc committee or the President, and we don't know whether Berkowitz was himself critiqued...