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The faculty shouldn't be stunned. Harvard has been reading the e-mail of students for a long time. Why should the faculty be any different? I'm fairly certain

The faculty shouldn't be stunned. Harvard has been reading the e-mail of students for a long time. Why should the faculty be any different? I'm fairly certain they read my e-mail in 2003 (which I wrote about in my book). Judith Kidd, then a member of the administration, happened to know that I'd hired lawyers in a meeting before I had ever told her. While it's remotely possible that she learned of this from another source, I think it's highly unlikely. The reason why Harvard (or any university) is not your average employer is that academic institutions, and particularly those with big brand names, are supposed to be beacons of free speech in this country. Professors should be able to discuss or investigate pretty much any [legal] topic they want to without fear of censorship or other repercussions. The notion that the administration could spy on faculty (or students for that matter) without notice could have potential chilling effects that are actually fairly serious. But am I surprised? Not at all. The Harvard Administrative Board has been and continues to be an abomination. Despite all of the scholarship on the subjects at the law school, due process and transparency remain foreign concepts to these people.

doctorpangloss 14y ago
> Despite all of the scholarship on the subjects at the law school, due process and transparency remain foreign concepts to these people. I have to agree with Aaron here: The worst part of this story is that Dean Michael Smith, who authorized the search, teaches a privacy class, CS 105.
curveship 14y ago
> The faculty shouldn't be stunned. Harvard has been reading the e-mail of students for a long time. Why should the faculty be any different? Are you sure you went to Harvard? :) It's not a surprise that Harvard treats students and faculty differently. It would be a surprise if they did. The caste system is extremely strong, or at least it was when I was there (class of '96). And that's my read on this tale: the Harvard castes are re-aligning. Traditionally, it's been faculty at the top, with administration below. The administration is now rising, to the point that it feels it can pick off the lower rungs of the faculty, like the resident deans. This is a shift occurring all over academia, but perhaps a little later at the Ivies.
jessaustin 14y ago
If I were still a student I might hope that this will be a sort of "it gets worse before it gets better" moment, in that the faculty are the only party even theoretically capable of arresting Harvard's ethical and managerial decline. Experience indicates that having been blind for decades, they're unlikely to see the light now. The Harvard bureaucracy is big enough and old enough that its true purpose is itself. Only the faculty ever had the power to re-focus the bureaucracy's efforts on students and veritas. I wonder if they still have that power now. Though TFA quotes several professors' criticisms of the administration's actions, I wonder how much of the issue they're really seeing. Mitzenmacher, for example, has in the past defended the Ad Board categorically. (e.g. http://mybiasedcoin.blogspot.com/2008/10/on-ad-board-harvard-centric-post.html http://mybiasedcoin.blogspot.com/2008/10/on-ad-board-harvard... ) Prof. Lewis, however, I find an inspiration in every sense: academic, moral, human, etc. I just have the feeling that he is a lone voice of decency in Cambridge.

doctorpangloss 14y ago

> Despite all of the scholarship on the subjects at the law school, due process and transparency remain foreign concepts to these people. I have to agree with Aaron here: The worst part of this story is that Dean Michael Smith, who authorized the search, teaches a privacy class, CS 105.

curveship 14y ago

> The faculty shouldn't be stunned. Harvard has been reading the e-mail of students for a long time. Why should the faculty be any different? Are you sure you went to Harvard? :) It's not a surprise that Harvard treats students and faculty differently. It would be a surprise if they did. The caste system is extremely strong, or at least it was when I was there (class of '96). And that's my read on this tale: the Harvard castes are re-aligning. Traditionally, it's been faculty at the top, with administration below. The administration is now rising, to the point that it feels it can pick off the lower rungs of the faculty, like the resident deans. This is a shift occurring all over academia, but perhaps a little later at the Ivies.

jessaustin 14y ago

If I were still a student I might hope that this will be a sort of "it gets worse before it gets better" moment, in that the faculty are the only party even theoretically capable of arresting Harvard's ethical and managerial decline. Experience indicates that having been blind for decades, they're unlikely to see the light now. The Harvard bureaucracy is big enough and old enough that its true purpose is itself. Only the faculty ever had the power to re-focus the bureaucracy's efforts on students and veritas. I wonder if they still have that power now. Though TFA quotes several professors' criticisms of the administration's actions, I wonder how much of the issue they're really seeing. Mitzenmacher, for example, has in the past defended the Ad Board categorically. (e.g. http://mybiasedcoin.blogspot.com/2008/10/on-ad-board-harvard-centric-post.html http://mybiasedcoin.blogspot.com/2008/10/on-ad-board-harvard... ) Prof. Lewis, however, I find an inspiration in every sense: academic, moral, human, etc. I just have the feeling that he is a lone voice of decency in Cambridge.