Though the Hibbs and Dominguez cases received nationwide attention, the incidents seem to have had less impact on the department's reputation outside Harvard than it has had within the walls of Littauer Center.
Most academics contacted at other colleges agree that sexual harassment by certain individuals has not reduced their respect for the quality of the Government Department.
"One always has to make a distinction between the intellectual characteristics and the morals," says Joseph Cropsey, the University of Chicago's director of graduate studies in political science. "The whole profession deplored and was shocked by what happened at Harvard, but it hasn't translated itself into the opinion that the department has deteriorated."
"When we think of Harvard, we think of the place where we lost some of our best applicants," Cropsey adds.
Other professors agree. "If I were to ask most of my colleagues in the corridors [about Harvard], they would consider who's there in certain fields. About one in 15 would probably mention the sexual harassment," says R. Bruce Douglas, chairman of Georgetown's government department.
All the scholars interviewed say they know of no one who has been dissuaded from coming to Harvard for fear of sexual harassment. Putnam says he, too, heard no such reasons when he asked potential female graduate students why they gave Harvard the thumbs-down.
"I think people feel it's unfortunate and feel sorry for the people involved, but people don't make judgments," says Allan Kornberg, chairman of Duke's political science department. "If I had an undergraduate who wanted to come to Harvard, I'd say, 'Great, it's a great place."'
But apparently not all academics agree. In February 1984, 12 members of the Latin American Studies Association, a national professional association of university teachers, journalists and lawyers, wrote a letter to President Derek C. Bok and then-Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky. In that letter, the professors said that because Bok had made no public statement about the Dominguez case, they did not feel they could recommend students to Harvard's graduate program.
Rosovsky, in a letter dated March 19, 1984 and obtained by The Crimson, responded: "If I thought that a further public statement would serve a clearly constructive purpose, I believe I am sufficiently aware of my responsibilities [as dean] to have issued one."
The letter continues: "Under the circumstances, your letter displays a degree of moral arrogance that is unusual even by the unfortunate standards prevailing in the academic profession ... One further thought: rather than spending your time lecturing other institutions, why not dedicate yourself with equal fervor to the avoidance of those very problems at your universities?" Rosovsky could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Academics agree that sexual harassment is not a problem restricted to Harvard, nor certainly to academia. They reiterate that Harvard has dealt with the problem in a more public manner than most other institutions, giving the appearance that the problem is worse than at other schools.
Many say Harvard's public handling of its sexual harassment cases has heightened awareness of the problem at other universities. "Harvard is substantially more visible with regard to these issues because they've been more publicized. We've never discussed Harvard as a hotbed of sexual discrimination--people are aware it's a problem, but it's nothing unique to Harvard," says Michael N. Danielson, chairman of Princeton's politics department.
Besides the publicity over the three sexual harassment cases, Harvard in October 1983 released a University-wide survey, just one month after the Dominguez case made headlines, in which one-third of all female students said they had experienced some sort of sexual harassment during their time at Harvard. The study, which some criticized for ambiguity in defining sexual harassment, also indicated that almost none of these women was willing to come forward and have Harvard pursue her case.
A report released this week reveals that two formal complaints of sexual harassment--one in the College and one in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences--were reported last year. The individuals filing formal complaints seek both a formal investigation and University discipline of the alleged offender. The report did not specify which department was involved in each of the incidents.
Harvard Government professors and graduate students interviewed last spring said they think the department's sexual harassment problem stems in part from the lack of women at all levels in the department and the University in general. Of the 40 junior and senior government faculty, four are women. Only one, Cowles Professor of Government Judith N. Shklar, holds a tenured post.
No matter what the root of sexual harassment at Harvard may be, academics agree that the problem is probably more widespread among other colleges than it would appear. Says Princeton's Danielson: "It's probably the tip of the iceberg, and it's hard to deal with icebergs when you can hardly see the tip."