Document 45


E-mail of 27 November 1998 from Professor Nesson to Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Carol J. Thompson
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Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 09:28:05 -0500
From: Charles Nesson <nesson@law.harvard.edu>
To: carol_thompson@harvard.edu
Cc: berkowit@fas.harvard.edu
Subject: Berkowitz Tenure Review
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2 Shown 72 lines Text
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[ Part 1, Text/PLAIN 47 lines. ]
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Dear Dean Thompson:

        We appreciate that you marked your brief letter to Professor
Peter Berkowitz in response to his letter of November 9th as "personal and
confidential."   At the same, we believe that it is inappropriate for you
to reply to us in ways that have consequences for Professor Berkowitz's
appeal and at the same time constrain us to keep the communication
secret.

        We are aware that the "Guidelines for the Resolution of Faculty
Grievances" provide that a grievant may consult with the Associate Dean
for Academic Affairs on a "confidential basis."  But we believe that this
confidentiality is for the benefit of the grievant.

        Moreover, it has come to our attention that some member of the
Dean's Office communicated in a confidential email to the senior faculty
in the Government Department (Professor Berkowitz was kept uninformed)
that you had recused yourself and would not play any role in Professor
Berkowitz's appeal.  Why should  the Dean's Office be permitted to
communicate secretly and selectively with members of the Government
Department about the status of Professor Berkowitz's appeal and your role
in it while we must say nothing about this official Harvard process?  It
seems to us that on this matter, the Dean's Office has breached
confidentiality.

        In accordance with our practice, it is our intention to
post your correspondence with Professor Berkowitz on our website
(<http://cyber.harvard.edu/berkowitz>) as we have posted all official
communications with the University. But we do not want to do this over
your objection, at least until you have had full opportunity to
articulate it.

Please let me know if you think we are misapprehending the situation.
We will wait a few days before moving ahead.

Sincerely,


Charles R. Nesson
Wm. F. Weld Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at HLS,
http://cyber.harvard.edu/eon
Chairman of the '98 Harvard International Conference on Internet &
Society, http://cybercon98.harvard.edu