Tuesday The Rabbi Saw Red by Harry Kemelman Page A

Hanbury.”
    “May I see the petition?” She eyed the case on Ekko’s lap. “Do you have it there?”
    “We didn’t bring it.” said Abner.
    “But why not? You circulate a petition and get signatures. I assume the petition was addressed to the administration. I can’t understand why you would circulate a petition and then not bring it. Wasn’t that the purpose of this meeting, or at least one of the purposes – to formally present the petition so that the administration could consider it and act on it?”
    “Let’s say it wasn’t really a petition. Let’s say it was a resolution, a petition means that we’d be asking for something, we’re not really asking.”
    “Then what?”
    “We’re demanding.”
    There were nods of agreement.
    Dean Hanbury considered, then she nodded. “Very well, what is it that you’re demanding? And in whose name? Is this a demand merely of this committee, or do you claim to represent the entire student body?”
    “You’re damn right we represent the student body.” O’Brien exploded.
    Selzer gave him a withering glance.
    “If you represent the student body; Mr. Selzer,” she went on. “then more than ever I must see the petition or the resolution, or whatever you call it. I must have some assurance that you represent more than fifty percent, a majority of the student body. If you are making a demand, the normal procedure, in the absence of a vote, would be to count the signatures and then look them over to make sure there are no duplicates and that all signers are bona fide students of the school.”
    “Look. Miss Hanbury.” said Selzer. “you’re just fencing. Let’s put it this way: we represent the concerned students of Windemere, and it doesn’t really matter whether we are authorized representatives of Roger Fine or not.
    Because the issue is more important than a particular person, the issue is whether the administration has the right to fire a member of the faculty because it doesn’t like his political opinions. Now that’s the issue and it’s the only issue.”
    “Oh, I thought you had a number of issues.”
    “I mean that’s the only issue in this particular case.”
    “That’s a legitimate issue, Mr. Selzer, and I’m frank to admit that it is important enough to justify any member of the school raising the question – if it were true. But I’m afraid you’ve been misled. Professor Fine was not fired, in the first place, he was hired for a definite period, and at the end of this semester his contract expires, that’s all there is to it. When you engage an electrician, say, to install a fixture, you pay him when he’s done; then he leaves. I’m sure you wouldn’t expect that just because he has installed one fixture he is now entitled to do all the electrical work in the house. I’m sure Professor Fine realized the conditions of his employment, and his political opinions had nothing to do with it. If he had been dropped before he had completed his contract, then you might have a case, but he is teaching now and will continue to teach, I trust, until the end of the term in accordance with his contract.”
    “Why wasn’t he reappointed then?” demanded Selzer.
    “Because he wasn’t hired with that in mind, he was hired to fill a temporary need, and for a specific period.”
    “But you are going to hire another instructor for the English department, as a matter of fact, we have it on good authority that you intend to hire two new men.”
    “That may be.” said Dean Hanbury. “It’s a matter for the president to decide, and I can’t speak for him. I doubt if he has even made up his mind yet. But that does not affect the situation with Professor Fine, there is nothing to prevent him from making formal application for the job, in which case his candidacy would be considered along with all others who apply and no doubt his experience here last year would be one of the points considered.”
    “And what of his radicalism?” exploded Judy