Kaczynski in Harvard alumni directory
Guess who managed to send in an update to the Harvard alumni directory? None other than convicted mail bomber, triple murderer, and 1962 Harvard grad Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski. The Unabomber’s brief profile appeared in the “Harvard and Radcliffe Classes of 1962 – Fiftieth Anniversary Report,” a book given out to alumni at their 50th reunion this week, and his name was listed under his state in the back of the book.
His profile reads as follows:
Theodore John Kaczynski
Home Address: No. 04475-046, US Penitentiary-Max, P.O. Box 8500, Florence, CO 8126-8500.
Occupation: Prisoner.
House/Dorm: Eliot.
Degrees: AB ’62; MA, Univ. of Michigan ’65; PhD, ibid. ’67.
Publications: Technological Slavery (Feral House, 2010).
Awards: Eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998
Although I personally find this to be slightly amusing (in a strange way), as did Alex Taussig, who first broke the news via Twitter, I understand that it is a serious matter to those killed and injured by Kaczynski’s mail bombs, as well as their friends and relatives.
But this is not a reason to forbid Kaczynski from being listed in the directory. Susan Mosser, the widow of Unabomber victim Thomas Mosser, said she was “disappointed in Harvard” for publishing Kaczynski’s information. And according to AP, Harvard issued a statement saying that they “regret publishing Kaczynski’s references to his convictions and apologize for any distress that it may have caused others.”
With all due respect, I would have been disappointed in Harvard (which, for purposes of full disclosure, happens to be my alma mater as well) if they had received Kaczynski’s information and not printed it. First of all, he did not write anything offensive or inflammatory in his profile, but simply stated basic biographical facts about himself. According to the Boston Globe, a Harvard Alumni Association spokesman confirmed that the profile Kaczynski sent was within the guidelines for the directory. Second of all, although some people are offended by the mere existence of Kaczynski’s listing, the job of the Alumni Association is not to eliminate anything that people might find offensive, but to compile a comprehensive listing of the information sent in by alumni. No matter what he did and no matter how notorious he is, Theodore Kaczynski is a graduate of Harvard, and he should be listed as such.

