January 22, 2005 10:12 AM

Hey ladies, Harvard's hiring!
Posted by Diane Danielsonat 10:12 AM

Poor Larry Summers, he just had no idea what a minefield he was stepping in when he voiced the possibility that women were not as naturally equipped to excel in the sciences as men. But the best thing about controversy is that it generally leads to action. Today's Globe reports on the expedited plans for a new Harvard Women's Initiative.

Harvard University's president, Lawrence H. Summers, yesterday asked the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study to oversee a new initiative designed to quickly identify new ways to recruit and support women at Harvard.

In a sign of how much Summers' incendiary remarks about women have shaken the Harvard campus, the new undertaking is being put on a fast track -- an unusual step in the often-ponderous Ivory Tower. Summers said that task forces would be appointed next week, and that the university would begin implementing their recommendations by the end of the semester.

"The events of recent days and continuing concerns suggest that we as a university need to do much more," Summers said. The new initiative will "assure we have the most robust mechanisms we can to recruit and develop the careers of female scholars."

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