Below is the text of a March 14 letter that was sent by 32 members of the History Department to Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith. The letter, which was authored by history professor Lisa M. McGirr, calls on Harvard to “repair the breach of trust in our community” caused by administrators' secret search of the email accounts of 16 resident deans last September. The names of the 32 cosigners—who include Walter Johnson, Daniel L. Smail, Charles S. Maier '60, Maya R. Jasanoff '96, Andrew D. Gordon, Alison Frank Johnson, and Sven Beckert—have been omitted from the signature of the letter.
March 14, 2013
Dean Michael Smith
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
University Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138
Dear Dean Smith,
We, the undersigned members of the Department of History, as scholars, teachers, and citizens of the university, are deeply concerned by the secret monitoring of the email of sixteen Resident Deans undertaken to uncover the source of a media leak. While we have read the recent response outlining the reasoning behind the searches, we believe that such surveillance, even within the narrow scope of this particular investigation, threatens the freedom of expression and the community of trust that are at the core of our great university. Surveillance of communications by members of our teaching community strikes us as a radical step and a departure from past policy. To engage in such practices leads down a slippery and dangerous slope and we wish to register our strong opposition.
The decision of the administration of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to monitor email communications raises concerns over the protection of privacy, speech, and dissent. Such actions are incompatible with the climate of trust among students, faculty, staff and the administration upon which the university has been built and upon which its international reputation rests. It points to a gap between faculty and administration understandings of our rights and responsibilities in an institution dedicated to fostering teaching, learning and the open exchange of ideas. In order to repair the breach of trust in our community, we must be certain that such a violation of restraints will not occur again and that email privacy will be protected. We call upon the university administration to provide such reassurance and to make every effort to restore a culture of trust and transparency in our collective academic mission.
Yours sincerely,
[32 members of the History Department]
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