Yalie Pickets Ask Tenure For Well-Liked Professor

Yale students began a round-the-clock picketing vigil outside president Kingman Brewster Jr.'s office Monday to protest the dismissal of a popular professor in philosophy.

Yale's Tenure Appointments Committee turned down a unanimous recommendation of the philosophy department last week to grant tenure to Richard Bernstein, associate professor of philosophy.

Bruce Payne, a spokesman for the demonstrators who have been picketing in two days, said that students want not only a "reconsideration of Bernstein," it also "an airing of the University's tenure policy in general." The Tenure appointments Committee does not ordinarily reconsider decisions.

The System for awarding tenure at Yale, as at Harvard, emphasizes both teaching ability and scholarly research.

Many people at Yale feel that Bernstein, who is 32, was turned down because he has published only one book during his ten years at Yale. His second book is almost ready for publication.

The Yale administration, usually silent in such situations, stated that the decision "was made with the greatest possible care and motivated only by the desire to sever Yale and its students."

Students Praise Bernstein

Students are enthusiastic in their praise of Bernstein's teaching abilities, the Yale Dally reports. "He's far and away the greatest teacher I've ever known," a junior from Buffalo commented.

Bernstein has been critical of Yale in he past. In an interview published in the New Haven Register last year, he said that the university overemphasized grades at the expense of education.

Brewster, who is vacationing in the Bahamas, has not been available for comment.