Despite controversy, Summers welcomed at Tufts
Visit boycotted by some faculty
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 -- does not represent the values of Tufts.
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 lecture , President Lawrence S. Bacow, who invited Summers, said he'd heard complaints from only three professors and no students.
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.
At the beginning of his speech, Summers noted that the lecture series that brought him to Tufts is meant to highlight speakers who challenge conventional wisdom.
"It is enormously important in academic life that all perspectives be represented and probably is particularly important that perspectives that challenge conventional wisdom be represented if universities are to fulfill their purpose," he said.
Summers's speech 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.
He said after the lecture that he is thinking about writing a book about higher education.
In wide-ranging remarks during the lecture, he talked about the importance to undergraduate education of international experiences, science, active learning, and access for low-income students. He was critical of professors at many universities, saying the amount of time they spend with students is declining from generation to generation.
One of the faculty members who boycotted , 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 contended 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.
Before the lecture, he said he expected dozens of faculty and students to boycott.
Before the talk, Bacow responded to Globe questions in an email, writing: "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.
Marcella Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@ globe.com. 