When Granville Hicks was appointed one of the counselors in American civilization last year this paper urged "if Hicks proves a success as a councilor, that Harvard grant him a regular position on the Faculty." For some unexplained, but perhaps not inexplicable, reason neither Mr. Hicks nor any of his fellow councilors were reappointed to the jobs in which they were beginning to attain the skill that comes from experience. But what is a loss to the American Civilization plan can in this case be turning to the advantage of one of the regular departments of the University.
The appointment of Mr. Hicks to a position in the department of English could be respectfully asked merely on the basis of his recognized scholarship in the field on greatly strengthened by the success as a teacher which led 250 students to put their names to a petition demanding his retention on the basis of his work this year. Unfortunately for the head-in-sand opponents of everything Mr. Hicks stand for, the Committee of Eight published its report on tenure and appointment at the wrong time. Here is the definite statement that a university should not merely tolerate "heretics" among its professors but should deliberately seek representation for unorthodox, minority views. "Harvard would not be true to its ideals or to its role if its appointment policy should exclude from its ranks every advocate of social change," the Committee says. Even stronger is this remark: "It is not enough that dissent from prevailing views should not count against a proposed appointee; it should count in his favor, if the dissent has intellectual weight, and is inadequately represented in the "Faculty."
The Committee's warning against the "second rate heretic" does not apply to Mr. Hicks, who is indisputably of the first calibre. Certainly his views are now "inadequately represented" in the English department, and he can be justly called a "thoughtful rebel," a type of scholar whom President Conant declared essential to education in a speech at Amherst four years ago. If this university is to be consistent with the most profound recent expression of its liberal attitude it should make Mr. Hicks a member of its staff.
