By Amy Duschaneck
Features Editor
with additional reporting 
by Joanna Shalleck-Klein 
Staff Writer

Professor Howard Bernstein’s history at Wesleyan has been a vast one. Serving as a Wesleyan professor for over 20 years in the departments of History, Philosophy, College of Letters,
the Educational Studies Program, the Science in Society Program, and the Graduate Liberal Studies Program, and undergoing countless protests for a renewed contract, once again
Bernstein’s contract has run out.

There have been Wespeaks, sit-ins, petitions, and speak-outs in support of Bernstein remaining on the Wesleyan faculty.

1978 marked the beginning of his Wesleyan career when Bernstein was hired as a visiting associate professor of History, a position which he retained until 1982.

In the period beginning in 1982 Bernstein was appointed adjunct assistant professor of letters. This position lasted until 1984.

According to Brendan Martin ’95, in the February 14, 1995 Argus, in 1984 Bernstein was denied tenure because his scholarship was questioned. The denial of his tenure resulted in a
protest which consisted of a petition of 838 names, over 200 letters to the Argus, 35 students meeting with the president to discuss the matter, and a sit-in.

In the April 10, 1984 Bernstein expressed his annoyance with the University’s decision not to grant him a more permanent position.

"A one year appointment is far too tenuous," Bernstein said. "I’ve been here for five years and have worked hard, yet no avenues have opened for me to become a permanent part of the
university." 

Earl Hanson, who was then the chair of the Science in Society Program (SISP), expressed his support for retaining Bernstein in SISP in the same issue of the Argus.

"It is a complex situation which will only be resolved if we can find an explicit possibility of a position that will allow Howard to continue to grow as a scholar and teacher," Hanson said.
"The feeling of the department is very strong that he has proven himself as one of, if not the most effective teachers we have. In terms of the 3 categories for promotion, he meets and
exceeds all of the normal standards used." 

Hanson then went on to explain the reasoning behind the University not granting Bernstein a faculty position.

"The EPC [Educational Policy Committee] will determine the policy, whether the position will exist at all," Hanson said in regard to whether Bernstein’s position would remain a part of
SISP. "Their decision is made without attention to specific people involved." 

Edward Kennedy Jr. ’84 graduated the year Bernstein was denied tenure and at the time of the February 14, 1995 article, was an Associate Research Scientist at Yale School of Medicine. 

"As far as Howard’s relationship with Wesleyan goes, I remain continually amazed at the university’s disrespect to one of its most dynamic professors," Kennedy said.

In 1992 the Educational Studies Program was eliminated causing students to again rally for Bernstein’s cause. At this point a support group called Coalition for Howard Bernstein made
up of Wesleyan students and alumni was formed in support of Bernstein gaining a faculty position.

In 1994 students held a speak-out on May 28 one day prior to commencement in support of a position being created for Bernstein. In this same year Bernstein received the most votes for
Wesleyan’s teaching award, which the University refused to award him because he was not eligible for tenure.

In the spring of 1994 a proposal was written by Howard Needler, a College of Letters professor, to create a position for Bernstein in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program. The proposal
was signed by 16 senior faculty members but was rejected by the Administration.

"I can’t believe people can crush someone like Bernstein who has dedicated himself so much to Wesleyan," Brendan Martin ‘95, a member and unofficial leader of the Student Coalition
for Howard Bernstein told the Argus on February 14, 1995. "Maybe we’re on the road to not being so great anymore. If we can’t keep our best professors because of financial concerns,
we are going to lose our reputation as an outstanding institution of higher education." 

In 1995, pursuant to student protests, Bernstein was again granted a new terminal contract. 

In 1998 a contract was approved by the University to expire in three years after the Academic Advisory Committee rejected a proposal to grant him a longer term contract as an adjunct
associate professor.

"We thought we had a plan, of which the Bernstein adjunct associate professor appointment was a part, that not only had been agreed upon by the [College of Letters (COL)] and the
Administration, but also had the backing of the Administration," Needler said in the Friday, September 18, 1998 Argus. "Therefore the negative vote of the Advisory Committee and the
circumstances leading up to it came as a considerable shock."

A proposal was presented by the Faculty Student Affairs Committee in 1999 at a faculty meeting to have Bernstein remain a member of the faculty.

"We urge the Administration, in light of his long and splendid service and acknowledged brilliance as a teacher, to reconsider its decision to terminate the contract of Professor Howard
Bernstein," read the motion.

In 2000 the WSA composed a memo to the trustees and held a rally during Board meetings.

"It would be really difficult to have any hope of changing things next year, in the last year of his contract," said Matt Larsen ’00, a WSA representative who organized various protests in
support of Bernstein, in the February 29, 2000 issue of the Argus.

In Spring 2001 Bernstein’s three-year terminal contract will terminate. This will be the end of his 22 years of teaching at Wesleyan unless a new contract is agreed upon between Bernstein
and the Administration.

Presently Peter Morgenstern-Clarren ’03 is organizing a group of students to protest the termination of Bernstein’s current contract.

Morgenstern-Clarren has speculated as to some of the reasons behind Bernstein’s inability to secure a position at the University.

"The student body has rallied around Bernstein several times during his career, and the Administration hates protests from a public relations standpoint," Morgenstern-Clarren said.
"Perhaps the Administration is trying to get rid of a professor they incorrectly think is mobilizing students on his own."

"Bernstein does an excessive amount of work for his students at any unusually low salary, and a couple of teachers may resent that from a labor perspective," he said.

"If the process goes on and we lose Howard, then the process has failed," said Aaron Gershenberg ’84 in the April 10, 1984 issue of the Argus. 

The process has gone on for over 20 years and it seems as though this time the University will truly lose Bernstein. This being the case, according to Gershenberg, the University has failed.