Yale Tenure Committee to Consider Fresh Evidence in Bernstein Case

The Yale Tenure Appointments Committee which failed to grant tenure to associate professor of philosophy Richard J. Bernstein last week, has announced it will study new evidence which "would warrant reconsideration of its action."

The Committee's statement, released Thursday night was prompted largely by Yale students who picketed the office of President Kingman Brewster Jr. for ever three days this week. The students have questioned whether a "creative bleacher"--Bernstein--could properly be refused tenure on the reported ground that he has not published enough books

Bernstein who has been on the Yale faculty for nine years has published one book and reportedly is about to publish a second.

According to the New York Times, Yale's original policy was to grant a teacher tenure while promoting him from assistant professor to associate professor. Recently, the policy has been changed and assistant professors are promoted to associates without necessarily receiving tenure.

Bernstein was denied tenure despite the unanimous recommendation of his own department. Recommendations of the English and the History of Art departments at Yale have been similarly overruled in the past year.

The Yale Dally News, in an editorial Tuesday stated that the Bernstein decision "challenges a department's own competence to judge the ability of a colleague."

A university spokesman said the decision stemmed from Yale's desire to have on its faculty only those teachers who, in the judgment of the tenure committee achieve the "proper qualifications for professorship within a reasonable time," the Times reported.

At Harvard, an assistant professor automatically receives tenure by being named to the rank of associate.

Departmental recommendations at both Colleges are passed on to a special committee for approval, but at Harvard, unlike Yale, the Department's recommendation is traditionally accepted.

In the 1940's, during the first year's of a faculty appointment committee at Harvard, administration conflicts similar to the one at Yale arose over the rejection, of departmental recommendations. But once, entrenched, the committee-system functioned smoothly as rejections encouraged departments to consider their recommendations more carefully.