Others cite the University's lack of tenured ethic experts as a sign of Harvard's lack of commitment. "[Their denial of tenure] surely seems to leave us with some serious questions as toward the seriousness and competency of the Harvard Business School in establishing such a program," said W. Michael Hoffman, director of the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College.

Kennedy School Professor Dennis Thompson, who will lead Harvard's new ethics program, initiated by President Bok this fall, said that hiring outside experts to teach ethics is not always the perfect solution. "Ethics has to take root among the faculty members themselves. It cannot be grafted on. But that does not mean people from the outside can't help," Thompson said.

While Thompson said he would like to see the Business School hire theologians and philosophers to teach ethics courses in the MBA program, Harvard is committed to its case study method of teaching business, which would require an ethicist to have a strong foundation in business as well.

Students say they hear little about ethics in the classroom. Though a Business School student and a graduate were implicated in the Ivan Boesky insider trading scandal, students said they never discussed the events in class.

"[The trading scandal] is a pretty immediate thing right here," said second-year student Scott N. Bruskin. "But there is sort of a lid on it. It hasn't come up in the classroom environment." Bruskin said that his professor for a Management Policy and Practice class ignored students' requests to talk about the Boesky case rather than hold the scheduled case-study discussion.

The Boesky case is not the only ethical topic ignored in class. Arthur G. Epker III, another second-year student, said that out of 19 courses he had taken in the past several semesters, he could think of only one case in which the class discussed ethical questions.

"The faculty have resisted [the teaching of ethics] and that's because they either don't understand it or because they think it's a soft discipline," said Reverend Robert K. Massie, a doctoral student at the Business School.

Others say that the teaching of ethics is not at all feasible. "I think it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," said David J. Vogel, professor of business and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. "I think it's sort of a parody--the notion of throwing money at problems went out with the sixties. I think that schools are setting themselves up to be made fools of."

The Business School has already decided to spend part of the money on a University-wide program to bring four ethics fellows from different disciplines to research and speak on ethical issues. One of the four fellows for next year, Massie said the Business School would take its time spending the $30 million. "They're building for the long run. They're not interested in making a big splash," He said.