Summers stepping down as Harvard president
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --In his five-year tenure at Harvard University, President Lawrence H. Summers frequently found himself in the spotlight because of rifts with faculty at the Ivy League institution.
Shortly after he took office, a handful of prominent black studies professors, including Cornel West, left the university after a dispute with him. Last year, he was widely criticized for suggesting that innate ability may partly explain why few women reach top science posts.
Tuesday, facing the second no-confidence vote by faculty members in a year, Summers announced he would leave June 30, bringing to a close the briefest tenure of any Harvard president since 1862, when Cornelius Felton died after two years in office.
"I have reluctantly concluded that the rifts between me and segments of the Arts and Sciences faculty make it infeasible for me to advance the agenda of renewal that I see as crucial to Harvard's future," Summers wrote in a letter posted on the school's Web site.
Harvard's arts and sciences faculty was scheduled to take its second no-confidence vote next Tuesday, and there were signs that his support from the school's governing board was wavering. Several newspapers have reported that the board, known as the Corporation, had contacted faculty members to discuss his possible departure.
Last March, the arts and sciences faculty passed a 218-185 no confidence vote in Summers -- the first known instance of such an action in the 370-year history of the university. Faculty votes are symbolic because the seven-member Harvard Corporation has sole authority to fire the university's president.
Judith Ryan, the professor of German and comparative literature who introduced the latest no-confidence resolution, said Summers' resignation was appropriate.
"I'm certainly glad we're not going to have to have that faculty meeting on Feb. 28th, which would have been agonizing for both sides," she said.
The latest vote was called following the resignation of Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean William Kirby. Some faculty believe he was pushed out by Summers, though Kirby has said the decision was mutual.
Summers also drew criticism for his campaign against grade inflation, his demands to have science better integrated in undergraduate studies and his aggressive efforts to expand the university.
"To make changes you have to make some enemies, but you also have to be careful not too make too many enemies," said Steven Pinker, a psychology professor and Summers supporter. "He made far too many enemies."
Summers has led America's wealthiest university, with an endowment of more than $25 billion, since 2001.
Supporters note that he increased access to a Harvard education with augmented financial aid, boosted science programs and diversified the school's faculty.
"Larry is a friend and I believe in the vision of renewal that he set forth for the university," said David Gergen, a former White House adviser who teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "He recognized that it was almost impossible to move things forward."
Derek Bok, Harvard's president from 1971 to 1991, will serve as interim president from July 1 until a new president is found.
Board members said in a letter posted online that the past year has been difficult and "sometimes wrenching," but they look back on Summers' tenure with appreciation.
"Larry Summers has served Harvard with extraordinary vision and vitality," the members said.
Summers, a former Harvard economics professor and U.S. Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, said he will return to teaching at Harvard after a year sabbatical.
On campus Tuesday, about 80 students gathered outside Summers' office intermittently chanting, "Stay, Summers, Stay" and "Five more years."
"I don't think it's the worst tragedy to happen to Harvard, but it's a shame," said student Jonathan Blazek, 21. "He's done a lot for this university."
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Associated Press Writer Mark Jewell contributed to this report.
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