Dr. Summer's Days are Numbered

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
41

<p>At the risk of showing my age all too plainly, when I was at Yale in the stone age the President was a man named Kingman Brewster. President Brewster was among the most literate and intelligent man of his time. He spoke his mind plainly and eloquently. His commitment was to form and then put forth his beliefs based on where the facts had led him, regardless of how popular or unpopular his conclusion might be with certain segments of the community. Looking back even today, I believe he was among the finest men I have had the privilege to be associated with. Tragically, in my view, he was unmercifully harassed by certain elements throughout his tenure; I have always felt that when he eventually left the University, his best ideas had not been allowed their full flower. To have had a man of this caliber, and to have squandered even a portion of such a precious gift, was unbecoming a great university.</p>

<p>Although Mr. Summers is different in manner and background from President Brewster, I see in him the same intellectual honesty I saw in President Brewster. I hope people will look at this characteristic and appreciate what a rare gift it is to a great University like Harvard to have such a man at the helm. It would be a great loss if he were to leave before he has completed his work. I truly hope this does not happen.</p>

42

<p>From today's Wall Street's Front page:</p>

<p>Crimson Blues
Harvard Clash Pits
Entrenched Faculty
Vs. Brusque Leader</p>

<p>Summers's Executive Style
Hits Academic Roadblock;
Board Digs In for Fight
A Firestorm Over Gender
By ROBERT TOMSHO and JOHN HECHINGER
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
February 18, 2005; Page A1</p>

<p>CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Harvard University's secretive seven-member governing board issued an unusual statement yesterday: It stands behind the school's president, Lawrence H. Summers.</p>

<p>The board's one-page letter to "the Harvard community" sets the stage for a possible showdown between Mr. Summers and his prominent faculty critics, who are moving toward a referendum on his leadership.</p>

<p>...</p>

43

<p>I thought the WSJ story was reasonably balanced. </p>

<p>It's worth mentioning that the foregoing post is excerpted (the full story is pretty long). A few other paragraphs I found of note from the story:</p>

<p>Harvey C. Mansfield, a Harvard professor of government, said Mr. Summers has also taken on such issues as grade inflation and the generally liberal leanings of the school's faculty. "He is being attacked for his strengths and not for his defects," Prof. Mansfield said. "The liberals of Harvard lost the election last November. They are taking it out on Larry Summers."</p>

<pre><code> * * *
</code></pre>

<p>Other professors maintain that Mr. Summers's main failing was running afoul of ideas favored by the liberal elite. Mr. Summers, for example, has expressed his support for Reserve Officers' Training Corps, which was banned from Harvard during the Vietnam era. While falling short of calling for a return, that stance has angered gay students because of the military's prohibition of openly gay soldiers.</p>

<p>In a letter to the university community on behalf of the other six members of the Harvard Corporation, board member James R. Houghton said the board recognized the intensity of faculty criticisms of Mr. Summers and is taking them seriously. Mr. Houghton, who is chairman and chief executive of Corning Inc., said the Harvard president is "strongly committed" to advancing opportunities for women.</p>

<p>"More generally," he added, "we know him as someone very much determined to learn from experience, to encourage discussion and debate, and to help Harvard pursue academic excellence in all of its many forms."</p>

<pre><code> * * *
</code></pre>

<p>Prof. Dershowitz, who teaches at the law school, excoriated Mr. Summers over his failure to support efforts to keep military recruiters off campus. Prof. Dershowitz says he and Mr. Summers "fight like children," including a recent tangle at a dinner party over a legal issue where the president was "dead wrong."</p>

<p>But Prof. Dershowitz nevertheless supports Mr. Summers and says the faculty just needs to learn to stand up to him. "Anybody who is intimidated by Larry Summers is just a coward," he says. "Harvard has been a more interesting, more diverse and more exciting place since Larry Summers came here," he says.</p>

<pre><code> * * *
</code></pre>

<p>P.S. to Byerly - thanks. :)</p>

44

<p>This conflict seems to be a typical "we are in favor of freedom of speech unless it conflicts with our politically correct ideology" debate. Had Summers blamed lower female participation on academic sexism he no doubt would have been hailed for his outspoken and courageous stance. Some topics simply aren't open for discussion.</p>

<p>I do question the comments from the standpoint of Summers' judgment and political savvy. Even a political neophyte should have anticipated the firestorm his comments would cause. I hope he survives, if only to keep some debates going.</p>

45

<p>The remarks were made at a supposedly off the record economics think-tank symposium, to which Summers was invited in his role as an economist, rather than as the president of Harvard. The remarks were put on the record initially by a liberal MIT professor, who attended the symposium and then grabbed her fifteen minutes of fame by rushing to every media outlet she could find in order to proclaim the president of Harvard a sexist. Summers' mistake was in not recognizing that he can no longer speak other than as the president of Harvard, and in not assuming that anything he says - particularly in a well attended forum - will eventually find its way into the public domain.</p>

<p>For anyone interested, here is the full text of the letter from James Houghton (on behalf of the Harvard Corporation):</p>

<p>Dear Members of the Harvard Community, </p>

<p>I write as the senior member of the Harvard Corporation, which has kept itself informed about the concerns raised by President Summers’s remarks at a mid-January NBER conference and those expressed at the February 15 meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. I would like to offer a perspective on those concerns. </p>

<p>During his first three-and-a-half years as Harvard's president, Larry Summers has brought energetic leadership to an unusually complex and demanding job. He has worked vigorously to advance a range of university priorities that many people across Harvard highlighted for attention during the course of the search leading to his appointment. </p>

<p>All of us share an institutional interest in progress on a number of important fronts - from enhancing undergraduate education to spurring innovative interdisciplinary work, from planning for Allston to opening Harvard’s doors wider to students from low-income backgrounds, from taking creative advantage of new information technologies to intensifying the international aspects of education and scholarship. While members of the Harvard community understandably have diverse views on how best to proceed in these and other areas, the members of the Corporation believe that President Summers has demonstrated a consistent willingness to focus attention on major challenges and opportunities facing Harvard and to help move the institution forward. </p>

<p>We have spoken with him at length about the aftermath of his remarks at the NBER conference on women in science. We know that he genuinely and deeply regrets having spoken as he did, and that he is strongly committed, as we are, to Harvard’s pursuit of focused institutional approaches to advancing opportunities for women in science and also in academic life more broadly. More generally, we know him as someone very much determined to learn from experience, to encourage discussion and debate, and to help Harvard pursue academic excellence in all of its many forms. </p>

<p>We take seriously the views expressed at Tuesday's meeting and recognize their intensity. President Summers has made plain to us that he is listening carefully to the concerns that have been expressed. We are confident of his ability to work constructively with the faculty and others to advance the goal that all of us share - ensuring that Harvard's academic programs are as good as they can be, and that our community of faculty, students, and staff is as strong as it can be, now and in the future. We fully support him in that effort, and we know how devoted he is to its success. </p>

<p>Please feel free to communicate with me, or with the Corporation's next most senior member, Hanna Gray, if you have views you wish to convey directly. You may send e-mail to us at <a href="mailto:houghtonjr@corning.com">houghtonjr@corning.com</a> or <a href="mailto:h-gray@uchicago.edu">h-gray@uchicago.edu</a>, or, if you prefer, you may write to us through the Office of the Governing Boards, Loeb House, 17 Quincy Street, Cambridge. </p>

<p>With thanks and best wishes,</p>

<p>James R. Houghton
Senior Fellow</p>

46

<p>What's the difference between Ward Churchill and Lawrence Summers?</p>

47

<p>Cosar, I am curious to know why you believe it is relevant that the remarks were made "off the record." </p>

<p>Is there a such thing as the president of a university making large-scale statements (that happen to be very relevant to current events at his school) that are off the record? For better or worse, many politicians have had incidents in which their (truly) private remarks have been captured on tape and broadcast for the world ... one could argue that this is a better indication of what they "really think."</p>

<p>How curious that all the professors who are speaking out for Summers are themselves the most controversial and disliked faculty at Harvard.</p>

48

<p>If this were true (which it is not, ie, Harvey Mansfield, who may be controversial but is hardly disliked) it might be because they know what it is to be pilloried and/or shunned by the dominant PC leftist elements for daring to speak their minds and to take issue with accepted dogma.</p>

49

<p>Joemama brings up an excelent point: what is the different between Larry Summers and Ward Churchill? The only real difference is that one is an unqualified babbling fool while the other has had a more than impressive career and spoke what very well could be the truth (there are plenty of experiments that say women and men differ in their ability to do various things). It seems to me that the wrong person is being protected. For a very well written op-ed on Summers vs. Churchill, I strongly encourage you to read Jonah Goldberg: <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg200502111210.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg200502111210.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As a Harvard student I can say that the atmosphere here is mixed. Many feel that he was taken much too far out of context. Others feel that, as the President of Harvard, he really shouldn't be saying those types of things. I, personally, am a little upset that he apologized--as the president of a University his first and foremost priority should be to promote the academic freedom to express opinion. Whithout that, I feel, there can be no progression in learning. By apologizing he's stepping back from ideas that he either believed in or, at the least, was curious about.</p>

<p>For those of you who haven't actually read his speach, you can find it here: <a href="http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/2005/nber.html&lt;/a>. I think most of you will agree that far too much fuss is being made over this.</p>

50

<p><how curious="" that="" all="" the="" professors="" who="" are="" speaking="" out="" for="" summers="" themselves="" most="" controversial="" and="" disliked="" faculty="" at="" harvard.=""></how></p>

<p>I don't see Steven Pinker as disliked...</p>

51

<p>Here's a good link to commentary by Ann Althouse, Wisconsin Law Professor, on the Washington Post article about the Summers situation.</p>

<p><a href="http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/01/flap-about-summers.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/01/flap-about-summers.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

52

<p>Imagine one of those scenes in a horror movie where the hero opens the door and a thousand snakes come slithering across the floor, hissing, bobbing and weaving, and baring their fangs.</p>

53

<p>Do you know anyone who enjoys making provocative and possibly inflammatory statements in order to get a reaction and stimulate a discussion? I do, and my impression of Larry Summers is that he has a streak of that in him. Sitting around in an informal, off-the-record, academic think-tank setting, one is more likely to give that streak some leash. Summers did not say that genetic differences are the reason that women are underrepresented among math and science faculty. He said that there are genetic differences between men and women (which is obviously indisputable), then went on to make the provocative and possibly inflammatory statement that it might be worth further study into whether these genetic differences are one factor (of several) that could help explain the underrepresentation. </p>

<p>While I wish he had not decided to provoke with this statement (and I am sure he now wishes he hadn't either), I think the setting and context within which he made the statement are relevant in assessing whether he is a sexist (which I do not believe he is) or whether he has formed a conclusion that women are genetically inferior when it comes to math and science (which I do not believe he has). I also find the actions of the MIT professor, who used the remarks to pursue publicity and a political agenda at Summers' expense, at least as troubling as anything Summers said or did.</p>

54

<p>


Dramatics aside, where there's smoke there's fire. If so many members of faculty are finding fault with their President, there must be something, however minor, wrong.</p>

<p>Personally, I think Summers is walking on a tight rope, and his days as President may very well be over.</p>

<p>But Mr. Doodley summed the "Summers comment" issue brilliantly:
[quote]
This conflict seems to be a typical "we are in favor of freedom of speech unless it conflicts with our politically correct ideology" debate. Had Summers blamed lower female participation on academic sexism he no doubt would have been hailed for his outspoken and courageous stance. Some topics simply aren't open for discussion.

[/quote]
</p>

55

<p>One of the two clods has longer hair.</p>

56

<p>The difference between Ward and Larry:</p>

<p>One looks like a hillbilly, the other thinks like one.</p>

57

<p>And what of this</a> issue:

It seems Summers comments were an airing of his own personal views. The question is: is he sexist or not? In making those statements, his primary goal was not to challenge debate, but it seems he's done a good job of it anyway.</p>

58

<p>"Although Mr. Summers is different in manner and background from President Brewster, I see in him the same intellectual honesty I saw in President Brewster. I hope people will look at this characteristic and appreciate what a rare gift it is to a great University like Harvard to have such a man at the helm. It would be a great loss if he were to leave before he has completed his work. I truly hope this does not happen."</p>

<p>When the all male Supreme Court ruled 100 years ago that women were to weak and feeble to sign contracts, they too were expressing their "intellectual honesty". Unfortunately, the damage they did was beyond measure. Countless careers and lives were ruined. The Presidents of MIT, Stanford and Princeton understood this. As for Summers, -------</p>

59

<p>Clearly a lot of you did not actually read what Summer said, and you have allowed yourselves to be swept aboard the ship of discontent and anger toward President Summers. Do yourselves favors and go read the transcript--my guess is that you'll find that what he said was not so bad. </p>

<p>Otherwise, enjoy yourselves next year at Princeton (w/Cornel West), MIT, and Stanford! I'm sure they'll take good care of you. ;)</p>

60

<p>sunglasses: got something against Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, UPenn and others?</p>