After 21 days, President Drew Faust still has not responded to our letter. We have however, received a response from Bill Murphy, Director of Labor and Employee Relations. Here is Mr. Murphy's job description:

William J. Murphy
Director, Labor & Employee Relations

Bill leads the Office of Labor Relations, oversees all labor-management communications, serves as the University’s chief negotiator with campus unions, and administers all collective bargaining agreements at the University. Since 2003, Bill has successfully led the University’s efforts in four successor collective bargaining negotiations.

Bill Murphy has no power to make actual decisions about layoffs. He is only an administrator. We requested a talk with President Faust for a reason. As a member of the Harvard Corporation, the seven member governing body at Harvard, and as the major public representative of the University, she has more power than anybody on campus to make sure that layoffs do not occur. We are still waiting for a response from President Faust. We will post the full contents of Mr. Murphy's letter, as well as our rejoinders, in a few days.