To the Editors of The Crimson:
The executive board of the Civil Liberties Union of Harvard (CLUH), after having met without the presence of Director Joshua Burstein '93, wishes to make the following response to John A. Cloud's editorial "That's Outrageous," published in the September 26 issue of The Crimson.
In this editorial, Cloud accuses Burstein of being a hypocrite for simultaneously protesting the appointment of former New York Daily News Publisher James F. Hoge as a fellow of the Institute of Politics and serving as the director of CLUH. It is our opinion that CLUH is unfairly being dragged into this issue by Cloud and The Crimson.
CLUH is both a proactive and reactive organization, and is willing to consider any matter regarding civil liberties in the Harvard community. However, at no time has any person or group requested our intervention in this matter. In addition, at no point in its six-year history has CLUH taken any action in reference to supporting or opposing professors or other appointed officials, and therefore we do not consider this matter to be a civil liberties issue.
Furthermore, the piece failed to clearly state that CLUH does not endorse Burstein's protest. We seriously doubt that The Crimson would have been interested in CLUH and have contacted an organization with which we are not directly affiliated, the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, if anyone else but our director, acting as an individual, had been involved in this matter.
Finally, Cloud apparently does not understand the fact that Burstein is not attempting to censor Hoge, but merely to protest his appointment. If Burstein--or anyone else--attempted to prevent Hoge's opinions from being heard, CLUH would condemn his or her actions; any attempt to deny members of a campus community freedom of speech is dangerous. CLUH will therefore continue to monitor this issue, and be willing to act without consideration of the fact that Burstein is an officer of CLUH. Jol Silversmith '94 Assistant Director, CLUH James E.N. Hensley '92 Secretary, CLUH Nathan L. Dupree '92 Treasurer, CLUH
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