To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The decision not to fill Henry Kissinger's position in the Government Department is thoroughly objectionable, and it could set an unfortunate precedent. One could protest as a student of international relations that the additional instructor is needed: apart from Social Sciences 112, only four half-courses are offered this year for undergraduates in International Relations. More important, the decision moves the Government Department one step further from being a group of scholars and teachers and one step nearer being an exclusive club for men of affairs, operated for the benefit of its members. Apparently, for the senior members of the Department a tenured position has become a sinecure to be held as a right, involving no responsibilities toward the students of the department or the University. Obviously the precedent set by the decision is likely to be turned to in the future by those Faculty members who prefer to spend their time in Washington rather than in Cambridge.

Of course, there is also the specific question of whether the University should accept Kissinger on the Faculty. Certainly his notorious aversion to undergraduates and his deep involvement in political decisions considered immoral by many members of the University raise questions concerning his suitability for a Faculty position.

Despite this flagrant de facto violation of Faculty policy on leaves of absence, it is futile to ask the Faculty to pressure a department in order to change a decision that is in the interests of so many of its members. I encourage other members of the University to write the Overseers' Visiting Committee for the Government Department concerning Kissinger's apparently indissoluble link with the Government and this University.