Seventy-four senior professors at the campus have already voted no confidence in Pres. Bob Kerrey and are arranging for another such vote by the entire full-time faculty next week. Why? Is the kerfuffle really about a turnover of provosts, or rather about faculty members’ sef-interested disdain for the collective need on campus to contain costs during economic hard times?

In trying to hold down expenses, Kerrey is fulfilling his duty to the institution. To that end, among other measures, he recently came out against separating the academic budget from the overall budget and thus insulating the professors from sharing in whatever economic sacrifices have to be made.

A campus trustee, Leo Hindery Jr., no doubt has it right in maintaining that the faculty members’ current tantrum has basically to do with protecting their economic interests — although the fact that Kerrey’s politics have sometimes been at odds with that of the overwhelmingly liberal professors likely fuels their resentment of him. Hindery concludes, as cited in the New York Times, ““If the times were fulsome and every aspiration and tenure interest of that group was being fulsomely met, there would have been no [no-confidence] vote.”

The board, which so far is standing behind Kerrey, should continue to do so.