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JOHN HARVARD’S JOURNAL

After a telephone news conference to discuss his resignation on February 21, President Lawrence H. Summers stepped outside Massachusetts Hall to face the broadcast media and meet with student supporters.

constantly raised but incompletely ex- Corporation and Summers. (Links to the A Presidency’s plored. Given his unexpectedly brief texts are available at www.harvardmag- Early End tenure, that leaves much work for Har- azine.com.) vard’s transition leadership, and for Sum- The Corporation’s letter made these After five years of frequent contro- mers’s ultimate successor. Those leaders key points: versy on matters of fundamental academ- must also help calm the community and • Summers would serve through the end ic and intellectual substance, and the refocus its energies on its academic mis- of the academic year. Following a sabbati- style in which those issues were pursued, sion—priorities that seemed particularly cal, he planned to return to the faculty, the Harvard presidency of Lawrence H. pressing in the fervid atmosphere imme- and the Corporation intended to appoint Summers will end on June 30. Through- diately following Summers’s resignation. him to a University Professorship, Har- out his administration, questions about The news itself was announced on the vard’s highest professorial rank, upon the how the University should develop fac- University website at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, completion of his presidential service. ulty, teach students, and organize re- February 21, the day after Presidents’ Day, • He would be succeeded July 1, on an search in the twenty-first century were accompanied by letters from the Harvard interim basis, by Derek Bok, who was

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JOHN HARVARD’S JOURNAL END OF A PRESIDENCY

president from 1971 to 1991. For Bok, who Saying that it had accepted Summers’s “has been a di∞cult and sometimes led Harvard after the turmoil of the late resignation with regret, the Corporation wrenching one.” It exhorted members of 1960s—the antiwar protests, occupation cited his service to Harvard, animated by the community to “look forward in a of University Hall, and forcible removal of “a sense of bold aspiration and initiative, a spirit of common enterprise” of scholar- those sitting in by police o∞cers—the prodigious intelligence, and an insistent ship and education. new tour of service represents a second devotion to maximizing Harvard’s contri- call to calm troubled waters. (Bok quickly butions to the realm of ideas and to the In his own letter, Summers cited began preparing to assume his new du- larger world.” As examples of “invigo- “rifts between me and segments of the ties; see “The Interim Agenda,” page 64.) rated” academic programs and keener en- Arts and Sciences faculty” as the factor • Provost Steven E. Hyman “will carry gagement with “complex challenges facing making it “infeasible for me to advance forward in his vital role.” society,” the Corporation cited work on the agenda of renewal that I see as crucial • The Corporation would have “more to the undergraduate curriculum; Harvard’s to Harvard’s future.” That definition of say soon about the search for a new presi- international agenda; the “pursuit of new what had transpired would become dent, which we intend to launch prompt- intellectual frontiers” within and across sharply contested ground. ly” (see page 66). departments and schools; enhanced finan- He then presented an informal brief for The statement was signed by James R. cial aid for students from lower-income what had been his presidential agenda. Houghton, Nannerl O. Keohane, Robert families and graduate students pursuing “Believing deeply that complacency is D. Reischauer, James F. Rothenberg, and public-service careers; faculty appoint- among the greatest risks facing Harvard,” Robert E. Rubin—the current Corpora- ments; and planning for Allston develop- Summers wrote, “I have sought for the last tion members other than Summers. (Pa- ment, particularly in the sciences. five years to prod and challenge the Uni- tricia A. King begins her service in May.) The past year, the Corporation noted, versity to reach for the most ambitious

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The resignation of President Lawrence H. Summers became courses designed to appeal to their whims.…Mr. Summers also grist for a torrent of commentary worldwide, much of it highly began a move to rein in grade inflation; he dispelled some of Har- political, even ideological. On March 12, in the Sunday Telegraph, vard’s political correctness by inviting conservative speakers and Tisch professor of history Niall Ferguson—no left-wing fire- looking for conservative professors to hire; he transformed the brand—coolly summarized the rhetorical warfare this way: “Ei- policy of a∞rmative action by reducing the pressure to hire more ther a reactionary despot has been deposed by faculty freed0m- blacks and women as such; he opposed Harvard’s hostile atti- fighters, or a bold reformer has been thwarted by vested tude toward the U.S. military. Besides these measures of cultural interests.” (At its extreme, the latter argument extended to politics, he sought to put or keep Harvard first in science…. claims that the president was being ousted by tenured oppo- Thanks to the Harvard Corporation, all this e≠ort is sus- nents intolerant of his ideas and speech.) Without documenting pended—who knows for how long. In forcing Mr. Summers out, all the passionate extracurricular volleys, here is a sampling of the Corporation surrendered to the “diehard left” ([Frankfurter faculty members’ di≠erent opinions. professor of law] ’s expression) which had op- posed him from the start and is now celebrating in triumph and “The Debacle at Harvard” glee.…I do not know, but I suppose this was done out of sympa- Mr. summers was trying thy and fear combined, probably out of fear of not showing sym- to hold Harvard to a higher pathy. The Corporation is composed of liberals and leftists, and standard of excellence than was reportedly led in this action by the feminist Nannerl Keo- it was becoming used to— hane, former president of Duke University, and by liberal demo- exemplary scholarship crat Robert Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute. from all faculty, hiring only But the Corporation was also afraid of showing too much the best without the pres- sympathy with the left. It could not summon the manly con- sure to meet a quota based fidence to avow that Mr. Summers was being ousted because his on sex, and a challenging agenda of renewal clashed with the diversity agenda of the femi- curriculum that gets the nist left and its sympathizers. best out of both students Harvey C. Mansfield, Kenan professor of government, excerpted with permis- and faculty.… sion from a manuscript submitted to the Claremont Review of Books Mr. Summers proposed EWS OFFICE a curriculum review that “Wanted: A Leader” would result in solid courses forced out by a radical “segment” of the Fac- Harvey C. Summers was not aimed to answer students’ Mansfield ulty of Arts and Sciences. He was not forced out because bold vi-

needs, replacing stylish JON CHASE/HARVARD N sions threatened a complacent faculty. Most faculty in arts and

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goals in creative ways.” Acknowledging Summers cited as priorities work on was necessary to e≠ect desired change— that there “surely have been times when I the undergraduate curriculum and stu- with Summers’s especially forceful per- could have done this in wiser or more re- dent life; “renewal of the faculty” when sonality was a sure formula for unsettling spectful ways,” Summers wrote of his “the median age of our tenured professo- members of the community, construc- “sense of urgency” stemming from a con- riate is approaching 60”; extending finan- tively or not. The contrast with the al- viction of Harvard’s special ability to cial aid; “unprecedented commitments most self-e≠acing manner of his prede- “make a real di≠erence in a world desper- to science and technology” and to engi- cessor, Neil L. Rudenstine, was especially ately in need of wisdom of all kinds.” He neering; overcoming “artificial bound- great. Summers acknowledged in his let- also spoke of “laying some of the founda- aries of departments and schools,” which ter the tensions that did ensue, noting tions for what may come.” (This was an would require an increased willingness “strains and moments of rancor.” eerie echo of Faculty of Arts and Sciences to “transcend parochial interests in sup- [FAS] dean William C. Kirby’s resignation port of broader University goals”; and the During a 35-minute telephone news letter of January 27; Kirby wrote, “[W]e planned Allston campus. (Because Sum- conference that Tuesday afternoon, Senior have set a strong foundation.” The furor mers remains president through the end Fellow James Houghton summarized the following Kirby’s announcement, and the of the academic year, a review of his ad- Corporation’s written statement before manner in which the end of his deanship ministration will appear in a future issue.) Summers spoke. After saying, “This is a was handled, widened the fissures be- In retrospect, mixing these implicit day of mixed emotions for me,” the presi- tween president and faculty, as revealed at perspectives—that the College was not dent summarized his accomplishments. the faculty meeting of February 7. (See educating its students as well as it could; He acknowledged that he felt “very much “Arts and Sciences Dean to Leave O∞ce,” that Harvard had become, or risked be- regret for the rifts and cleavages” between March-April, page 58, and below.) coming, complacent; and that prodding himself and

sciences are eager to reinvigorate undergraduate education, not the root of the problem, and po- strengthen cutting-edge science, internationalize the university, litically correct decisions could not develop the Allston campus, and encourage collaboration among solve it.… the schools. Any president of Harvard at this time would have Above all, the power to persuade essentially the same goals. depends on the capacity to main- Achieving such goals requires raw intelligence, which Sum- tain trust. Colleagues need to be- mers has in abundance. But more crucial to leadership than IQ is lieve that leaders will not only act

the ability to inspire others with your vision and to help them honorably but speak truthfully. EWS OFFICE come to see it as their vision, too. You must understand the cul- Once a faculty comes to believe that ture of an institution even as you try to change it. Business Week their president is “less than truth- Robert D. wrote: “Summers joins the ranks of recent leaders brought in to ful” (as a former dean reportedly Putnam

generate change in organizations only to misfire and fail, [such said of this president), the basis for JUSTIN IDE/HARVARD N as] Carly Fiorina at Hewlett-Packard.” Giving orders goes only leadership of any kind has vanished. so far. As the late Richard Neustadt, America’s premier student …Harvard faculty have followed strong leaders in the past, and of the U.S. Presidency, put it: Presidential power is the power to they will follow them in the future. What Harvard needs now is persuade.… a boldly reformist leader, but one who actually knows how to [Summers] came in with much political capital, but frittered it make reform happen. away on battles he did not need to fight. He alienated even Robert D. Putnam, Malkin professor of public policy and a past dean of the those—from all disciplinary and ideological backgrounds— Kennedy School of Government, excerpted from an essay published in the most committed to his goals and to Harvard. Boston Globe on March 5 Take one of Summers’ highest priorities—reforming the un- dergraduate curriculum. Successful curricular reform requires “A Continuing Agenda” that hundreds of instructors change their behavior in hundreds Ironically, the events of recent weeks have helped bring of classrooms that cannot be policed. The hard part about curric- into focus an agenda for this faculty and the University that ap- ular reform is not finding “the right answer,” because there is no pears to be widely shared and well in place. What is important single right answer. The hard part is inspiring and persuading.… to recognize, as well, and what gives us cause for optimism look- Bold statements and a forceful personality are not enough. In- ing ahead, is that this agenda had in fact emerged in its broad deed, clumsily applied, boldness and forcefulness can lead to outlines from before the time Larry Summers started as presi- weakness. What was most dispiriting about Summers’s final dent, and can surely be expected to continue to have our sup- year to those who shared his values was that he relinquished the port. Let me o≠er a bit of detail. capacity to say no, even to bad ideas.…Political correctness was First, on the matter of undergraduate education: the Boston

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“segments” of the FAS. He had spent time extent of the rancor that had emerged” president should be equipped with “a lot reflecting on that during the past couple and the extent to which he personally of energy, a lot of patience, a lot of ability of weeks, Summers said, and then during “had become a large issue” within FAS. to engage with what is both an academic the last week had reached the decision to He had thus “very reluctantly” concluded and a very political environment.” make way for new leadership. (The deci- that it was best to step down. He felt he Was there a risk, a reporter asked, that sion made, he then departed on a holi- had “worked very hard over the last year in ceding the o∞ce, Summers would allow day-weekend skiing vacation with his to build bridges to meet members of the a “small vocal group” within a faculty to children.) faculty part way” on issues of concern “take down” Harvard’s president, threat- Responding to an initial question about and of control, but it had become clear ening to make the University ungovern- the “complacency” he had cited, Summers that for a substantial segment of that fac- able? “As I assessed the situation, I very said that Harvard was a “very di≠erent ulty, the gap could not be closed. much had the concern that you referred place” from five years ago, having “un- The president said that resigning “was to,” Summers said, but he concluded that locked a great deal of questioning and my decision,” and that any governance is- making way for new leadership was in restless energy,” especially among stu- sues the University may have do not con- Harvard’s best interest, and his own. dents and, he said pointedly, younger cern the Corporation, which has shown Reflecting on the “marvelous variety” of scholars. Given the opportunity to com- “continuing commitment to an aggressive the University’s research and teaching, he ment on those who disagreed with him, agenda of renewal.” Rather, the challenge said it had been “my approach and my con- Summers characterized them as “sincere is “to make plans and make decisions that viction that all of that could best be har- and not politically motivated.” transcend the parochial interests” of indi- nessed, be enhanced, by seeking to do Nonetheless, he said, his decision to vidual schools—a view he said was not more, to do it in bolder ways that had more step down had been prompted by “the particularly shared in FAS. A successor impact.” It was to that end that he had

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Globe in an editorial today stated that Larry Summers “started a take advantage of the extraordinary opportunity to develop a conversation about revamping the curriculum and he pushed new campus in Allston was certainly made clear by the end of professors to do more undergraduate teaching.” This is incorrect. ’s presidency.… It would be much more accurate to say that he joined and con- In sum, Larry Summers came to the Harvard presidency hav- tinued an already lively conversation. It was on the watch of Neil ing been given the gift of an ambitious agenda already emerging Rudenstine as president, with Jeremy Knowles as dean and in outline, given its shape by the e≠orts of this faculty and previ- Susan Pedersen as dean for undergraduate education, that an im- ous administrators. He articulated that agenda forcefully on portant initiative was launched to re-energize the freshman sem- many occasions, and has advanced it e≠ectively in some areas. I inar program, and put more faculty am not particularly interested in going into detail on the ways in into small classes with students.… which his leadership was too often not e≠ective. Likewise, it was Dean Knowles in It is up to us to carry forward, and I am optimistic that there is about 1997-98 who set forth a goal of considerable and deeply rooted consensus on the major tasks be- expanding the size of the Faculty of fore us. Arts and Sciences, initially by 10 per- From remarks at the March 7 Faculty of Arts and Sciences meeting by Andrew cent from 600 to 660, in significant Gordon, Folger Fund professor of history, chair of the history department, and measure to allow greater faculty in- co-chair of the caucus of FAS chairs volvement in undergraduate teach- ing. This previous administration “Ensuring Intellectual Diversity” also conducted a review of the Core FAS is currently at pains to convince itself and the world that curriculum, which…in many ways it ousted President Summers solely because of his style of gover-

NEWS OFFICE prepared the ground for, and made nance. Yes, and Jack Abramo≠ was only trying to promote Native people see need for, the current more American culture. Alas for the spinners, the minutes of [the] ambitious review e≠ort. It was also faculty record the nature of the attacks against the president: Andrew Gordon at the end of the 1990s that the com- complaints about his governance were merely the more deco-

KRIS SNIBBE/HARVARD mittee on study abroad led by Bill rous finale of a sustained and exceptionally nasty political on- Fash [Bowditch professor of Central American and Mexican ar- slaught.… chaeology and ethnology] and Bill Kirby began to push for ex- My colleagues say they are now eager to get on with the panding the opportunities for students to study abroad.… business of curricular reform that they subordinated for several Investing in the sciences was also an emerging priority in these years to the task of expelling President Summers. The most years, as planning began for the major new buildings on the crucial reform would require ensuring greater intellectual di- north side of Harvard Yard. And the importance of moving to versity among those who teach the students. The dearth of

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sought to be challenging: for many mem- text, Samuel Eliot Morison’s Three Centuries anonymous sources as Kirby’s firing by bers of the community, that had “very pos- of Harvard quotes Felton as confiding to a Summers, was obviously personally wound- itive results,” but for others, “it was threat- colleague that “there is no more compari- ing to Kirby. With Summers at the World ening.” In retrospect, he said, he might son between the pleasure of being profes- Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, have more successfully advanced the Uni- sor and president in this college than into that weekend, while the College was versity’s interests by showing more rever- there is between heaven and hell.”) Was still on its intersession break, the news and ence for its traditions. As he noted in his this vigorous president, a skilled student the manner of its dissemination struck letter, he would have “preferred to stay of power, suddenly overwhelmed by “seg- many FAS professors as signs of deep-seated longer,” to complete more of his vision for ments” of one faculty? And why did mat- differences between the president and their twenty-first-century Harvard. ters come to a head at this moment? faculty, and emblematic of persistent leaks, He then left Massachusetts Hall for a Though many of the details and discus- innuendoes, and management by indirec- rally outside with student supporters, sions remain private, the president’s own tion emanating from Massachusetts Hall. and a photo op for the evening news comments, referring to developments Far from passing with the day’s headlines, broadcasts, the next morning’s newspa- during the prior two weeks, suggest some Kirby’s announced departure heightened pers, and the University website. of what unfolded. the broader concerns. The January 27 leak, deliberate or inadver- As the new term began, both Summers How, then, did Summers’s resignation tent, of Dean Kirby’s resignation—before he and faculty members realized that the at- come about, making his the briefest Har- could discuss his departure with his senior mosphere had been altered. At the Febru- vard presidency since Cornelius Conway sta≠ and release the news on February 1, ary 7 FAS faculty meeting, 300th Anniver- Felton (1860-62) died in o∞ce? (Poig- as he planned—and the characterization sary University Professor Laurel Thatcher nantly, in the current con- of that departure by Ulrich, speaking for its Faculty Council,

conservative views…af- suring that students never have to waste time or courses and fects the nature of what is that summer opportunities are as rich as—though different being taught, as well as from—school-year opportunities.… the intellectual mettle of The faculty share the ideal that character, knowledge, and rea- those doing the teaching. soning should enable a person to advance his ideas. Because we Students, irrespective of hope students will imbibe these virtues, we want the University their own views, are being to embody this ideal in its own conduct and not resort to politics

short-changed by a fac- NEWS OFFICE that ultimately divert progress. ulty that does not even Who are we, the faculty? We have been called the hard-core acknowledge, much less radical left, but anyone who checks my credentials will see that wish to tackle, diverse Ruth R. Wisse the description is silly as applied to me. (My favorite topics in-

opinions. JON CHASE/HARVARD clude tax reform, incentive pay, and—yes—school vouchers.) We Ruth R. Wisse, Peretz professor of Yiddish literature and professor of have been told that Harvard contains a junta for maintaining a comparative literature, excerpted from a letter to the Harvard Crim- politically correct police state, but I have not met those faculty. son, March 17 Since I have a wide acquain- Caroline M. tance, I doubt their existence. Hoxby “We, the Faculty” The faculty I know are people I believe that we, the faculty, share the view that the student of integrity, whose expertise experience is the hub around which the University revolves. The is often beyond my ken but most rewarding, moving experience for professors is seeing stu- for whose dedication to stu- dents outgrow us by transforming themselves into educated, in- dents, research, and the good dependent leaders. To all families who have sent children to Har- of the University I will person- vard: thank you for raising your remarkable children and letting ally vouch. us participate in their transformation. Welcome, Derek Bok. Wel- We, the faculty, share the view that a Harvard education is come, Harvard’s president-as- great but should be greater. I was a Harvard student myself and yet-unknown. The future is be-

have never met anyone whose university gave him more or better fore us; we have much to do and ARVARD NEWS OFFICE opportunities than I was given, yet I am frustrated when I think much need of you. how much better educated I could be. More than anything, the Caroline M. Hoxby, Freed professor of problem is time: knowledge expands every year but a student’s economics, excerpted from an essay

years here do not. We must make the years seem longer by en- circulated privately STEPHANIE MITCHELL/H

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outlined a plan, negotiated with Summers dent may have felt that a plan was in place doubt that a dean could legitimately be in a series of meetings, for unprecedented to proceed with pending business. appointed; to propose, somehow, a direct faculty involvement in the search for But the meeting headed in a sharply decanal appointment endorsed by the Kirby’s successor. (Summers had never di≠erent direction. Fifteen speakers rose Corporation, bypassing the president; gone beyond convening an informal advi- to challenge Summers’s truthfulness; to and, most ominously, to raise the specter sory group for decanal searches.) Having object to the manner in which Kirby had of a second vote of no confidence in the already dealt with the Faculty Council been treated; to question Harvard’s moral administration. No one spoke on Sum- (FAS’s elected representatives) and having position in the wake of the federal litiga- mers’s behalf. apparently responded to the intense fac- tion against the University and Summers’s The circumstances recalled the faculty ulty concern friend Andrei Shleifer, Jones professor of meeting of February 22, 2005, when three Derek Bok about the situa- economics (see “HIID Dénouement,” senior faculty members suggested a tion by agreeing March-April, page 67); to ask whether mechanism for communicating profes- to this conces- fundraising could be conducted in the sors’ concerns to the Corporation, only to sion, the presi- prevailing circumstances; to express see the suggestion swiftly swept aside by

The Interim Agenda

Derek bok, Harvard’s president from several of the committees involved,” Bok said, and some faculty 1971 to 1991, resumes those duties on members have extended invitations, too. “So I will certainly ac- July 1 on an interim basis until a per- cept those invitations and share any knowledge and ideas that I manent successor to Lawrence H. have, because the subject is not only very important to Harvard Summers takes o∞ce. In late March, but of great personal interest.” (Bok was president when the shortly before his second visit to cam- current Core curriculum was created, and his new book, Our pus in preparation for his return to Underachieving Colleges, addresses curriculum design and peda- Massachusetts Hall, Bok discussed his gogy.) But he proceeds with the “clear understanding that the emerging perspectives and priorities with Harvard Magazine. ultimate decisions in these matters are for the faculty to make.” • On Allston: • NEWS OFFICE On possible disarray within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Acknowledging that he had not yet studied the plans in (FAS) or other parts of the University: depth, Bok noted, “My strong impression is that progress “I haven’t spent enough time in Cambridge in the last three should continue and not be stalled merely because the Univer- months to answer that question with complete confidence,” sity is looking for a new president. I don’t think we can a≠ord Bok said. But based on extended meetings earlier in March— to have the process bog down.” KRIS SNIBBE/HARVARD including with FAS’s Faculty Council and some of the depart- • On his general goals: ment chairs—he said, “I strongly suspect that there is a wide- “I hope that I can maintain the progress that is already under spread desire throughout the FAS to get back to work and put way to promote interdisciplinary initiatives, to improve under- the past behind them.” graduate education and the development of science at Harvard.” • On decanal appointments and other significant vacancies: Bok said he aims to “allow my successor to take o∞ce with as Responding appropriately “calls for a delicate balance,” Bok few unnecessary problems and with as much helpful prepara- said. “I don’t want to risk making long-term appointments that tion as I can provide.” As an interim leader, Bok said, he would could cause a problem for the next president. On the other not formulate major new multiyear University initiatives, not- hand, I don’t want to burden my successor with having to make ing, “I think there will be plenty to do maintaining momentum more major appointments right away than a new president can with the ones that we have.” He has already asked each dean comfortably handle.” To strike the proper balance, he said he and vice president for plans for next year, indicating their goals, would make permanent appointments “where there is a very anticipated problems, and ways he could be most helpful, so he strong and obvious candidate,” opting in other instances for can begin his tenure with “a pretty good sense of what I need to temporary appointments but doing “enough of the preliminary do to help the University move forward.” spadework to ease the task of my successor.” (Moving quickly • On the presidential search: to fill the most prominent vacancy, Bok in mid March solicited “At my request,” Bok said, “I am not going to serve as a full ideas from faculty, sta≠, and students concerning the FAS member of the search committee,” because of his administrative deanship. He noted that the Corporation had asked him to un- duties. “But I do hope that I will be able to consult frequently.” dertake this search “immediately,” in the hope that a successor He added, “I have no way of knowing how long my tenure can be in place by July 1.) will last, but I would say that everyone seems agreed that it • On revising the undergraduate curriculum: should be a lot shorter than last time. I will be mightily sur- “[FAS dean] Bill Kirby has already asked me to meet with prised if I am still in Massachusetts Hall past June of 2007.”

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wary colleagues. (That meeting was fol- deans and faculties, eliciting relatively lit- University Professorship provided a grace- lowed by the faculty’s 218-185 March 15 tle public comment. Advisers weighed in ful interim position for what was evidently vote that it lacked confidence in the ad- with opinions on the aftermath if Sum- an outcome arrived at under time pressure. ministration, a rebuke that clearly sur- mers lost another no-confidence motion. (Ironically, the first issue publicly dividing prised Summers and his supporters; see (In the end, absent a tally, there were only some FAS members and Summers was his “At Odds,” May-June 2005, page 55.) opinions: writing in the Sunday Telegraph on interaction with Fletcher University Pro- As the February 7 meeting proceeded, March 12, Tisch professor of history Niall fessor Cornel West, who subsequently left the president—usually well-briefed and Ferguson suggested that the vote “would Harvard for Princeton.) fast on his feet—again seemed taken by have gone overwhelmingly against him.”) surprise. (He had scheduled a business Then, on February 16, the Boston Globe Was the premature end of this ad- trip to New York the next day, complete reported that the former dean of the Grad- ministration caused by a faction of one with an appearance at a fiftieth-reunion uate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), faculty exercising undue power, or gener- dinner, suggesting that he was not ex- Peter T. Ellison, Cowles professor of an- ating unwarranted resistance to needed pecting a renewed confrontation.) thropology, attributed his decision to step change? Given colleagues’ evident dissatisfac- down in 2005 directly to actions by Sum- It would be presumptuous to try to ag- tion, the Faculty Council found itself un- mers. In a statement dated February 14, gregate the opinions of hundreds of indi- able to advance the proposed faculty-dri- Ellison wrote that his dealings with the vidual faculty members, or to guess at ven search committee—or any action. On president, like Dean Kirby’s, unfolded in Corporation members’ private thoughts, February 15, it issued a statement: “On “a similar pattern, involving undermining and it is far too soon to attempt a history. balance…we believe that a plan resem- the authority of a dean in front of others, But it seems clear that these events were bling the one put forth at the February 7 hollow statements of support, and denials about far more than a dean’s departure, or meeting, giving a strong role to the Fac- ulty in the process, would be the most ap- As the new term began, both Summers and propriate. However, a significant number of faculty have expressed doubt that any faculty members realized that the atmosphere search at this time could succeed because they lack su∞cient confidence that it had been altered. would result in a dean who could enjoy the support of both the President and the that appear less than fully truthful…. This di≠ering opinions (academic or political) FAS. As a result, we believe that this issue does not seem to me any longer to be a held by a few professors opposed to the must be resolved before the search for the matter of style or personality, but of char- president. Similarly, the harsh confronta- next FAS Dean can begin.” The subtext acter.… When someone with the skill and tions in early 2005 were sparked by was that nothing could, or should, hap- integrity of Dean Kirby does not flourish sharply divergent views about Summers’s pen with the president in place. in his post, something is seriously wrong. I controversial remarks on the role of As Summers conferred with coun- would not now recommend to any col- women in science and engineering—but selors, Corporation members, and oth- league that they consider serving as dean that was hardly the sole factor, nor per- ers—and Corporation members under- under this President.” haps even the most important. took information-gathering e≠orts and By then, Summers or the Corpora- Then, as reported (see “At Odds,” May- conversations—deadlines for a resolution tion—or both—had decided that a June 2005, page 55), faculty members from loomed. By February 13, when the prelim- change must take place. The Corporation a variety of disciplines spoke about their inary agenda was set for the February 28 was not likely to welcome a faculty mo- sense that the president, in pursuing FAS meeting, Weary professor of German tion advising on its conduct. Given his change, had claimed “sole agency” to do and comparative literature Judith L. Ryan self-described “searing” experience a year so, soliciting and then ignoring informed had moved ahead with her proposal for a earlier, Summers was unlikely to relish a counsel, resorting to “bullying and per- new no-confidence motion. Another pro- protracted, even more heated extension sonal aspersions,” humiliating faculty posed motion called on the Corporation of the February 7 exchanges at the next members, and even silencing their opin- to collaborate with the faculty and to in- faculty meeting. Derek Bok, who on Feb- ions. All this suggested classic manage- ject itself more directly and forcefully in ruary 13 had announced publicly his in- ment problems, albeit in a university con- current questions of governance and tention to step down as chair of Common text (see “The Way Forward,” page 67). management. The meeting was scheduled Cause’s national governing board, re- Summers at the time responded along for Sanders Theatre, to accommodate the ceived a formal request about the succes- those lines: acknowledging the criticisms expected crowd. The agenda would be- sion from Corporation members James and promising to adapt his style, to re- come final on February 21, following the Houghton and Nannerl Keohane early in think the “roles of the central administra- Monday holiday. the Presidents’ Day weekend. tion and deans” on curriculum (“very Summers and his backers reportedly Whenever the terms of Summers’s sepa- much the responsibility of the faculty”), sought support from professional-school ration were negotiated, the conferral of a to consult on matters like Allston plan-

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ning that are “inherently University-wide to be done there, or for coordinating that now yielding more than $100 million annu- in their significance,” and to create “more work with the rest of the University. ally—it is better able to finance such new transparent” academic planning centrally Meanwhile, FAS is building extremely ventures than some of the schools them- and in the schools. Over time, he hoped, expensive and as yet unfilled labs (see selves. That poses important questions for those steps would yield “both continued “Fraught Finances,” March-April, page the faculties whose professors will work in momentum and a necessary rebuilding of 61), and Harvard Medical School has un- any new location—questions ranging from trust.” He began the academic year with a used space (now leased out) in its New budgeting and teaching responsibilities to new chief of sta≠, his third, and a new Research Building. Will these facilities possibly recasting departmental and school personal press spokesman. He tempered end up competing with the new Allston boundaries and authorities. his visible involvement in faculty policy- space? Although the central administra- Though such issues may seem internal, making. tion had conducted a planning process for they reach deep into the disciplinary or- But in other respects, the decisions he interdisciplinary research that might ganization of the modern research univer- had made earlier were not revisited, and locate in Allston (see “Scientific Ambi- sity. In this sense, one person’s perception remained flashpoints for diverse members tions,” July-August 2005, page 58), a Uni- of “complacency” or “resistance” is an- of the University community who were versity-wide review of the future of sci- other’s vision of how academic talent has involved in thinking about how to shape ence at Harvard—embracing FAS and the been developed, contact with students the institution’s future. To cite one high-profile example, work Such issues may seem internal, but they reach on Allston proceeded on its former course, with the appointment in January of a chief deep into the disciplinary organization of the operating o∞cer and a separate organiza- tion reporting directly to Summers (see modern research university. “Brevia,” page 77). The announcement on February 17 of a site and architect for a medical and public-health schools, and encouraged, and new knowledge evolved. first building complex, comprising some examining appointments, academic ad- Such di≠erences can be resolved, but not 500,000 square feet of laboratory space, ministration, and more—began only this with a snap of the fingers. made tangible Summers’s vision of a third year, and will not even report until this Similar questions arose earlier in Sum- locus for scientific research. summer. mers’s tenure as the administration Those decisions put Allston develop- Because the central administration has floated ideas such as moving all science, or ment on a fast track—but without any been collecting since the beginning of the all life science, to Allston (at the risk of evident process for the academic and ad- decade a “strategic infrastructure fund” as- segregating the liberal arts and sciences ministrative management of the research sessed on all the schools’ endowments— from one another, or the life scientists Precedent-Setting Presidential Search

The search for a successor to President Lawrence H. Sum- dent of the Harvard Alumni Association, will “sit with the mers will involve expanded outreach to the Harvard commu- search committee from time to time,” and representatives of nity. In a March 30 news release, the University announced the search committee will “periodically attend” meetings of that, consistent with past practice, the Corporation had the advisory groups. These e≠orts are intended to convey formed a search committee comprising its six members other ideas about Harvard’s opportunities and challenges to the than the president, plus three Overseers. But beyond encour- search committee, and to help frame the questions the com- aging faculty, students, sta≠, and alumni to weigh in through mittee should have in mind as it evaluates nominees. letters and private conversations, the committee will conduct These measures create a mechanism for broader input in the its business in two new ways. search without making alumni, faculty, and students formal • Meetings, there and here. The committee “plans to consult participants in the process; they also recognize the increas- with alumni in a series of meetings, at various locations be- ingly broad geographic scope of the Harvard community. yond Cambridge and Boston as well as locally,” to assure that The Overseer members of the search committee are Frances it hears a variety of perspectives. (Alumni groups already D. Fergusson, Ph.D. ’73, president of Vassar College; Susan L. scheduled to meet locally will also be able to devote time to Graham ’64, Chen distinguished professor in electrical engi- discussing the search, and the Board of Overseers will play a neering and computer science, University of California, Berke- “key consultative role” directly and as a further channel ley; and William F. Lee ’72, co-managing partner of Wilmer through which alumni can communicate.) Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, a law firm. Comments on the • Advisory bodies. The Corporation will appoint two advi- search can be sent in confidence to [email protected] or by sory groups—of faculty and of students—“from a broad mail to Presidential Search Committee, cross-section of the University.” Their chairs, and the presi- Loeb House, 17 Quincy Street, Cambridge 02138.

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from collaborating chemists and physi- cists); delaying or canceling FAS science The Way Forward C projects that were well advanced toward O construction (perhaps stalling faculty re- What can harvard learn from the administration of Lawrence H. Sum- cruitment in critical fields); building new mers—cut short of its expected duration, and short of achieving many of its ambi- M Houses to expand the College student tious goals? In selecting Summers to be the University’s twenty-seventh president, M body (even as FAS sought to achieve a the Corporation opted for a figure who promised to promote change, to bring force more favorable faculty-student ratio); or and energy to Massachusetts Hall, and to use his o∞ce to speak out on issues of in- E scaling back investments in the humani- stitutional and public interest. Summers did all that, but did it almost exclusively N ties, art museums, and other fields deemed as a solo act. Therein lies the most important lesson for Harvard’s governing au- of lesser priority—a barrage of big-picture thorities to consider as they begin the search for the University’s next leader. T suggestions that made professors wary. The way forward begins with sound self-assessment. Some supporters of Presi- Such questions arise now as freestand- dent Summers attribute his resignation to political opposition (see “Weighing In,” ing scientific institutes are contemplated. page 60). There were indeed di≠erences of opinion about political and social is- And they continue elsewhere, as the Har- sues bearing on the University. But others knowledgeable in the field saw the un- vard School of Public Health pursues its folding story in other terms. Combining Harvard perspective with presidential mission alongside the administration’s ro- experience at Stanford, Donald Kennedy ’52, Ph.D. ’56, wrote about these themes bust Harvard Initiative for Global Health, in the March 10 issue of Science (he is editor-in-chief). The academy, he noted, is and the Graduate School of Education horizontal: “There is little hierarchy in the organization, and the professoriate eyes a contemplated presidential initia- consists of smart, independent-minded people who don’t always do what they’re tive on public schooling. (Both faculties told. Governments are di≠erent, and Summers may have been unprepared for a have had di≠erences with Summers.) venue in which failure to consult is costly the first time and unforgivable when re- Those two schools, and others whose peated. I was happy with his appointment and thought his challenge to Harvard graduates pursue public service, also was timely. It failed not because of political di≠erences or constituency mischief, looked forward urgently to the fruits of a though his image and its contrast with Harvard’s has tempted many observers to Harvard-wide capital campaign. Summers misallocate blame. The real story here is a classic tragedy: a brilliant thinker and e≠ected important measures to centralize scholar, capable of great leadership, brought low by flaws of personal style.” More fundraising, in part on the promise to in- succinctly, Robert H. Atwell, president emeritus of the American Council on Edu- crease donors’ gifts beyond their “home” cation, told the Chronicle of Higher Education, “I don’t just blame a recalcitrant faculty. schools in support of the less-well-en- In a place like Harvard, you can’t just announce your vision—you’ve got to sell it. dowed faculties. Nor is the financial pres- He did this to himself.” sure confined to those schools: as it has Some University o∞cials who worked closely with the president on a range of built facilities and ramped up new fields functions and programs—and who in public and private enthusiastically endorsed like systems biology, the medical school his vision for growth in sciences, for Allston campus expansion, for curricular has had to tighten its belt, and as noted change, and for greater international presence—share this view. The president, above even FAS, with its $11.7-billion en- they reluctantly conclude, failed as a manager: his ideas and energies remained per- dowment, is laboring under significant fi- sonal; the hard work of reaching out to people and engaging them in action simply nancial strain. Having expanded their fac- did not happen; colleagues were treated in ways that proved unproductive, and ulties, facilities, and aid commitments, presented with decisions in which they had no stake. many parts of Harvard were already As a result, those decisions were not always for the best, or did not win needed forced to rethink their budgets as plans support from a large, complex organization. Although a building site and an initial for a fund drive were delayed last year. project have been designated for Allston, other plans remain vague and unsettled. That concern factored into the atmos- The Faculty of Arts and Sciences began adopting changes in College course re- phere generally (and has only been height- quirements this spring, but there is little agreement on what general-education ened by the realization that the transition needs today’s undergraduates have, or on how those needs should be met. Al- to a new presidency pushes a capital cam- though individual schools have identified urgent fundraising priorities, prepara- paign far later into the decade). tions for a University-wide capital campaign have repeatedly been pushed back, and will probably need to be relaunched by a new president. Faculty recruitment, Where does harvard head now? The development, and diversity may ultimately be advanced by the past two years’ con- current anxieties extend throughout troversies, but no one would have deliberately charted such a course to get there. much of the University, and form part of These issues join the agenda for the future. Harvard’s challenges can be met and the very large agenda for Derek Bok, the its opportunities realized by sound management and leadership that is inclusive interim president, who must reach out to and consultative. It is heartening that the Corporation’s recently announced search reassure faculty, students, and alumni process for the new president—soliciting advice and help from faculty members worldwide. The transition begins, more- and alumni expert in the field—embodies these values. over, with significant sta≠ vacancies. In

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his February news conference, Summers the central administration and FAS them a reality. In the meantime, a battle- said he hoped to complete searches for dean’s sta≠s may occur. Harvard Manage- weary community seems to want an un- new deans for Harvard Business School ment Company’s new leadership, on eventful conclusion to the decanal and and the education school. The FAS dean- whose investment results every school presidential terms of William Kirby and ship, he indicated, would land on the in- heavily depends, is just settling in (see . terim president’s to-do list (Bok has “El-Erian for the Endowment,” January- Thereafter, Harvard’s hopes are in- taken it up). FAS’s search for a successor February, page 54). vested in the interim return of Derek Bok. He brings to the task a successful The current anxieties extend throughout past presidency, strong connections to University constituencies, and continu- much of the University, and form part of the ing engagement with issues in contem- porary higher education. In the Febru- very large agenda for Derek Bok. ary 21 announcement of his new service, Bok said simply, “I will do my best to dean of engineering and applied sciences, After a breathtaking and bruising five carry out the Corporation’s request. a key growth area, may not be easily con- years, the University appears stimulated There is no institution I care about more cluded in the current unsettled circum- by visions for the Harvard of the twenty- deeply, and I will make every e≠ort to stances. The vice president for finance, first century—and eager for a leader who work with colleagues to further the Harvard’s chief financial o∞cer, departed can enlist more members of the commu- University’s agenda during this transi- at the end of March. Further turnover in nity in refining those visions and making tional period.”

tal fellowships to students at the end of will strengthen faculty members’ skills in Bolstering Business their schooling while they explore, for the school’s distinctive case-teaching The first Harvard Business School example, a public-service enterprise in method, which is increasingly integrated (HBS) capital campaign, launched pub- Latin America. with interactive multimedia tools and licly in the fall of 2002, ended on Decem- In terms of intellectual capital, HBS en- systems. Sixty-five new research funds ber 31, having raised at least 20 percent dowed its doctoral program—the source underwrite faculty scholarship, and addi- more than its half-billion-dollar goal. Pro- of future faculty—which had previously tional professorships were endowed. ceeds are “over $600 million,” said Robin- been funded through unrestricted re- Substantial sums supported extensive son professor of business administration sources. Light said the endowed doctoral new construction (Spangler Center, the Jay O. Light, the school’s acting dean. fellowships and extra resources for fac- M.B.A.-program and student-campus Consistent with a high priority enunci- ulty involvement will enhance the pro- center; Hawes Hall, a classroom building) ated at the outset of the fund drive (see gram. A new teaching and learning center and renovation (the overhaul and expan- “Capitalism Campaign,” November-De- sion of Baker Library; a “commons” cre- cember 2002, page 55), the school raised ated there serves as the venue for collabo- $112 million for 150-plus new fellowships. Campaign Contributions rative research seminars, a key goal of Light called that accomplishment “among Proceeds of the HBS fund drive HBS’s faculty-development plan, Light the really important things we’ve done.” said). The new Hawes classrooms and a The rising cost of business education has separate program of retrofitting Aldrich Unrestricted made it more di∞cult for students to at- Hall (“technological repurposing,” he and tend, he said. Moreover, the traditional said) equipped each class with multiple undesignated dependence on debt financing “overly Financial aid screens and projectors, allowing simul- 9% constrains what people can do” upon 18% taneous, integrated video conferenc- graduation. Fellowships make it Campus ing, video projection, and use of much easier to enroll international development spreadsheets or other tools for vivid students—one-third of the HBS 14% multimedia case presentations— population. But Light indicated another reason for the faculty to use that such aid was also “particu- International the teaching center. larly important for students who Faculty 21% The campaign also provided a are interested in social enterprise,” development permanent foundation for HBS’s in- who launch immediately into entre- 17% creasingly global research and case- preneurial ventures, or who pursue a Technology, writing, which is now conducted variety of innovative careers with lim- teaching, through a half-dozen field o∞ces from ited initial remuneration. The new funds learning Buenos Aires to Hong Kong. The newest also make it possible to o≠er experimen- 21% outpost, in Mumbai, was formally opened

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