The committee's treatment of the scholar, whowon the English Department's unanimousendorsement, highlights the inherent coolness ofsuch groups to young scholars, they said.

All three of the outside scholars on Watson'sad hoc committee had themselves been rejected forHarvard posts, said a Harvard professor who metwith the group. Professors and administrators saidad hoc committees almost always include severalwho have been denied positions here.

"The fact is that a lot of people in academiahave been at Harvard at one time or another, and Idon't know if that means they all have axes togrind or not," said Cabot Professor of History RoyG. Gordon.

Bate wrote in a statement to The Crimson,however, that having been rejected by Harvardthemselves, ad hoc committee members "are notalways in the most benevolent frame of mind."

"Members of the faculty have wondered if thereis a puckish predilection for making the fur fly,"Bate wrote. Ad hoc committee members sometimes usetenure reviews as a chance to take revenge onprofessional rivals or "to take a shot atHarvard," Bate said.

Bate said ad hoc committee members tend toevaluate tenure candidates thinking, "If I didn'tget it [a Harvard appointment], then neither willthis young guy."

"If a professor at university `X,' `Y' or `Z'had it in for a particular scholar or for theHarvard English Department, they can do it in forus," said English Department Chairman Joel Porte,Bernbaum Professor of Literature.

Asked if that happened in Watson's case, Portesaid: "Yes, I think so."

Watson's tenure bid won the EnglishDepartment's unanimous endorsement last April,department members said. They said the vote cameafter Spence took the extraordinary step ofrelaxing the strict timetable on which seniorpositions are offered to facilitate the promotion.

It was the first time a dean of the facultypermitted the English Department to deviate fromthe so-called Graustein Chart since the 1960s,said Cabot Professor of American Literature AlanE. Heimert '49.

Leading scholars at other universities "wroteto say that [Watson] was the best Shakespearean inthe world of his generation," according toProfessor of English and Comparative LiteratureWalter J. Kaiser '54.

Bok, who has final say over seniorappointments, has not made a decision sincereceiving the ad hoc evaluation in May. Severalprofessors said that they had been told privatelythat the decision, should it come, would benegative and that in the last 10 or 15 years thead hoc evaluations essentially have becomeverdicts on tenure candidates.

Kaiser condemned Bok's handling of Watson'scase in front of about 500 students attending thefirst lecture of Literature and Arts A-40a,"Shakespeare," a class he was scheduled to teachwith Watson. The president's failure to actprompted Watson to accept a full professorship atUCLA, Kaiser said.

In a telephone interview from Los Angeles,Watson said that Spence told him his chances ofwinning tenure here were slim.

"The only reason there wasn't a decision isbecause it would embarass Spence and it wouldembarass the English Department," said one aprofessor from another department who spoke oncondition of anonymity.