Unless the University acts soon, it will likely face litigation brought by Associate Professor of Government Peter Berkowitz, whose bid for a tenure appointment was rejected by Harvard President Neil L. Rudenstine in April 1997.

"With reluctance, we feel ourselves increasingly compelled to contemplate a lawsuit," Berkowitz said in a statement to The Crimson.

If he chooses to file a contract action, Berkowitz said he would seek invalidation of the decision not to grant him tenure.

In spite of his endorsement by a majority of the Government Department, Berkowitz's bid for promotion was rejected after what he charges was an unfair review.

Since the spring of 1997, a handful of Harvard luminaries who said they are motivated by concern about the school's "fundamentally flawed appointment procedure" have taken up Berkowitz's cause.

The associate professor's campus allies include Weld Professor of Law Charles R. Nesson '60 of the Harvard Law School (HLS) and Martin H. Peretz, publisher of the New Republic magazine and a lecturer on social studies.

According to Berkowitz's attorney, Matthew Feinberg of the Boston firm Feinberg & Kamholtz, future legal action would be based on the charge that Harvard failed to follow its own procedural standards in evaluating Berkowitz for the tenure appointment.

Feinberg also indicated that his client's suit would be filed in the Middle-sex County Superior Court, a venue that has traditionally been less propitious than federal courts for the University.

Precedent suggests that Berkowitz might seek monetary damages from the University in a suit, according to Feinberg.

While the attorney confirmed that restitution in the form of payment is "certainly available" to Berkowitz, Feinberg said, "We haven't gotten to that stage."

Berkowitz echoed his lawyer, saying that "all options are open."

With the associate professor's Harvard teaching contract set to expire at the end of this term, he said in addition to pondering a courtroom confrontation with the University, he will be pursuing job options in the next few months.

Faced with Berkowitz's imminent departure, Nesson stressed the pressure to resolve the tenure dispute.

"Time is of the essence," Nesson said.

The Fight Within Harvard

Since Rudenstine's decision not to promote him almost two years ago, the associate professor has followed the directives of the University's own "Guidelines for the Resolution of Faculty Grievances" in conducting his appeal.