Thursday, 4:30 PM
Former Harvard president still dogged by controversy -- even at Tufts
(Essdras M. Suarez/ Globe Staff file photo)
Some professors at Tufts University plan to boycott a speech tonight by former Harvard University president Lawrence H. Summers, who is shown above the day he resigned on Feb. 21, 2006.
By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff
MEDFORD -- Nine months after Lawrence H. Summers left the presidency of Harvard University, his very name is enough to stir controversy at nearby Tufts University, where he spoke last night about "rethinking undergraduate education."
Some professors boycotted his appearance, arguing that the former leader -- who has earned condemnation in past years for comments on women in science and for his dealings with African-American professors -- doesn't represent Tufts's values.
While the auditorium was only about 80 percent full, a polite audience of mostly students gave Summers a friendly reception and kept questions to the subject of his talk, instead of past controversies. Summers answered every query, even after the talk was supposed to have ended.
Before the talk, President Lawrence S. Bacow , who invited Summers, said he'd heard complaints from only three professors and no students.
Some faculty members said they were wincing, believing the critics have made Tufts, not Summers, look bad, by suggesting the university shouldn't be home to vigorous debate and controversial speakers.
"The mere idea that we wouldn't want to hear what he has to say and ask him questions is embarrassing," said Sol Gittleman , a professor and the former provost.
Summers's speech at Tufts was one of his most prominent appearances since he stepped down from Harvard's top post. He is on sabbatical this year and plans to return to teaching in the fall as a university professor, Harvard's top faculty rank.
Summers, who made undergraduate education a focus of his five-year presidency, did not directly address the concerns of his critics when asked about the controversy at Tufts before his talk.
"I was invited by President Bacow, whom I enormously respect, to give this lecture on a topic I consider extremely important, and I'm looking forward to it," he said.
Tufts physics professor Gary R. Goldstein said he saw Summers's lecture as particularly damaging given recent events on the Medford campus. Tufts is reeling from the uproar after a conservative student publication printed an anti-affirmative action Christmas carol called "Oh Come All Ye Black Folk" that included the lines: "We will accept your children/ No matter what your grades are, F's, D's, or G's."
The editor later apologized. Goldstein linked the episode, condemned by Bacow and other campus leaders, to a visit earlier last semester by Shelby Steele , a cultural critic who attacked affirmative action. Steele's speech was part of the same lecture series as the lecture by Summers.
Bacow's invitation to Summers sends the message "that it's alright to make statements that are offensive to half the student body," said Goldstein. He was referring to Summers's comment two years ago suggesting that women might lack the same "intrinsic aptitude" for science as men, and his conflict with former African-American studies professor Cornel West , which prompted West to leave Harvard for Princeton.
Goldstein argued that it would actually be better if Summers addressed African-American studies or women in science rather than the less incendiary topic of undergraduate education, because then the audience could hash out those topics instead of politely ignoring them. He said he expected dozens of faculty and students to boycott.
Summers talked about the importance of faculty-student interaction, international experiences, science, active learning, and access to education for low-income students.
Bacow, in response to Globe questions, wrote in an e-mail: "I invited him because I thought he had something interesting to say about undergraduate education. . . . Every student who has spoken to me has been supportive of the invitation."
The lecture series, funded by a donor, Richard E. Snyder, includes an honorarium for speakers. A spokeswoman would not disclose the amount but said it is "commensurate with what is expected to bring high-quality speakers to campus, but it is also by no means the highest funded lecture series at Tufts."
The student newspaper, the Tufts Daily, invited online readers to participate in what it described as an unscientific poll. Of 360 respondents, 62 percent said they supported Summers's lecture and wanted to attend. Twelve percent said they did not support it and would not attend, and another 12 percent said they did not agree with him as a choice for speaker but still wanted to attend. Fourteen percent said they did not have a strong opinion .
James M. Glaser , dean of undergraduate education, said the university is looking for exciting, provocative speakers with a range of viewpoints.
"A university is not in the business of sheltering students from views they might not like," he said.
Kanupriya Kapoor , a sophomore, asked Summers a critical question but said afterward that she left with a better impression of him. "Why would you boycott? You would go and listen and make up your mind for yourself," she said.
Marcella Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@globe.com.
