"I am completely confident that this will be an excellent appointment," Lewis said. "The most important thing here is to stabilize, promote and make as effective as possible the kind of public service activities that our undergraduates are involved in."

Undergraduates involved in the selection process, however, said that during the interviews, Kidd did not impress them with her ability to deal with students.

"[Kidd] demonstrated an alarming lack of sensitivity to the student run nature of PBHA," said PBHA Treasurer Andrew J. Ehrlich '96, who interviewed Kidd.

And PBHA vice-president Eric D. Dawson '96 agreed that Kidd may not be able to work well with students.

"The thing that worries me is [that] she sees herself as the CEO of public service...and that's not the role that an assistant dean could and should play, because these programs are run by students," said Dawson, who also participated in the interview process.

Kidd denied the charges that she lacks experience working with students, citing her work teaching a graduate course in fund-raising and philanthropy at Radcliffe College.

"My interest in working with students is extremely strong," Kidd said. "I really believe in fundraising as an active social change... the skills to be a good fundraiser are the skills you want working with students and faculty."

Lewis' decision has also come under fire from faculty and students who claim that it was predetermined.

"The students have been telling me for months that they knew [Johnson] wasn't going to be appointed," said Robert Coles '50, professor of psychology and medical humanities, and a member of PBHA's association committee. "They have been telling me for several months that [Kidd] would be getting the appointment."

Pan said he believes Lewis' decision was the product of a false process, aimed entirely at getting rid of Johnson.

"I view [the decision] as the director of PBH being fired rather than an assistant dean for public service being hired--the director of PBH being fired through an extremely insulting, disgusting and underhanded process," Pan said.

But administrators defend the restructuring of Harvard's public service programs, saying it brings together the College's service organizations as a single, cohesive unit.

Peretz, however, agreed with Pan that the College sought mainly to fire Johnson.

"They had reasons for trying to get rid of [Johnson] and they did not do it in a straight forward manner," Peretz said. "Realistically this isn't a new position...not only have they hired some body, [but] they have fired somebody without sufficient cause."

Students and faculty alike supported Johnson because of his work at building up the various PBHA service programs since he became director in 1980.