The Burden of Proof

SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, Derrick A. Bell, Jr., the Law School's only black professor, wrote a confidential letter to his colleagues protesting Law School hiring practices. Bell warned that unless the number of minority faculty increased, he might resign.

Bell's letter deserved a serious response from Harvard officials, but so far that response--publicly, at least--has been a slightly piqued, can't-be-bothered shrug.

President Bok told his news conference last week that Bell has no "legitimate gripe," adding: "We're making a visible attempt to find available candidates. The choices we make are not on the basis of race and sex." Bok's response sounded like a Nixon press conference answer: He attempted to minimize the importance of a problem while concurrently emphasizing the administration's "visible attempt" to solve it.

If Bell does not have a "legitimate gripe," it is hard to understand what that phrase means to Bok. Bell is the only black professor among 59 at the Law School. Of 16 Law School teaching fellows, there is only one black and one with a Spanish surname, which is also a criterion for official minority status. Bell's gripe could not be more legitimate--whether the "visible attempt" to recruit minority faculty is a phony PR slogan or an honest effort that has completely failed.

William L. Bruce '46, the Law School's vice dean and affirmative action officer, prefers the latter explanation. He said last week that the Law School's appointments committee is "really making an intensive effort" to search for minority faculty, but that competition from other schools and institutions makes recruitment difficult. But it is hard to believe that Harvard Law School, able to dangle its share of prestige and fringe benefits before prospective faculty eyes, could not attract qualified minority teachers if its recruitment effort was as visible as Bruce and Bok insist.

Bok did not brag about it at his press conference, as Nixon often did, but he is a lawyer and should be familiar with burden-of-proof theory. He should know that with a nearly all-white faculty, it is not enough to say that the Law School wants more minority professors and teaching fellows. It's time to prove it.