Retiring Senator Will Become Visiting K-School Professor

Harvard's aspiring politicians will soon have another kindred--and controversial--soul living and teaching in their midst.

Retiring Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) has accepted the visiting Lombard professorship at the Kennedy School of Government's Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy.

The three-term senator, known for his advocacy of policies limiting immigration into the United States, has said he will not seek re-election this November.

Simpson will teach a course at the Kennedy School in the spring of 1997 on "The Creating of Legislation: The Congress and The Press," according to Marvin Kalb, director of the Shorenstein Center. Simpson will also live in one of Harvard's undergraduate houses.

The course will explore "the role of the press in the formation of public policy," Kalb said.

Faculty members said students will benefit from Simpson's wealth of knowledge and political background.

"That's what makes the Kennedy School great. It's a mixture of academics who have real political experiences," said Mickey Edwards, lecturer in public policy and a former U.S. representative from Oklahoma.

Simpson said he and his wife plan to eat meals with undergraduate students daily. They also hope to audit several Harvard courses and make frequent trips to the Fogg Art Museum, he said.

"We'll be right there in the middle of it all," Simpson said in a telephone interview from Washington. "We plan to immerse ourselves in Boston and Harvard."

Simpson's last visit to Harvard, however, was an unpleasant one.

When Simpson spoke at the Institute of Politics on March 11 about his plans for curtailing legal and illegal immigration, nearly 150 undergraduates representing 20 student organizations protested along JFK Street.

The 64-year-old senator earned respect for standing his ground in the face of hostile questions from the audience, even requesting that the question-and-answer session be extended so that he could hear from more students.

"He handled...that situation with a great deal more courtesy than some of the students showed," Kalb said.

The Wyoming Republican said he would encourage similarly frank and open debates in his course.

"I want to get every single view into the forum," Simpson said. "You look the other guy in the eye and tell him he's goofy as hell."

Because Simpson has no previous teaching experience, he said he has been preparing a course syllabus in conjunction with several professors.

"I told [Harvard], 'Look, I'm not a wonk. I'd rather pump around in the discussions,'" Simpson said. "But I have to play the game; so I'll assign a book list."

Simpson recently authored The Media, the First Amendment and Me, which will be published this fall.

Guest lecturers will make frequent visits to the class, which will meet twice each week, according to Kalb.

--Chana R. Schoenberger contributed to the reporting of this story.