In Harvard farewell, Summers warns of complacency
CAMBRIDGE -- Appearing to chide those who pushed him out of his job, Harvard University president Lawrence H. Summers warned yesterday in his farewell remarks at commencement that the university risked being lulled into complacency.
``There is temptation to elevate comfort and consensus over progress and clear direction, but this would be a tragedy," Summers said.
In the face of unrelenting opposition from some professors, Summers announced in February that he would step down June 30 after five years in office. Arts and Sciences faculty members, the largest group on campus, voted no confidence in him in 2005 and were set to do so again in February when he announced that he would resign. While Summers's supporters said his attackers didn't like his bold vision for Harvard, opponents said the problems were with his bullying and other missteps, not the substance of his agenda.
But the crowd he faced yesterday gave him a warm reception. Due to the rain, he spoke inside the Sanders Theatre rather than outside. Because his speech was a part of an alumni meeting, about 1,200 alumni were allowed into the theater, while the graduates and others watched on a simulcast at other indoor locations.
The group in the theater gave him three standing ovations, and some alumni and students said that Summers's imminent departure made the day bittersweet.
``I think he has given a great deal to the university and today is not a happy day," said Bradley Ware, a California lawyer celebrating his 35th reunion. ``I think that sentiment is widely felt."
Summers spoke of his priorities in his five years at Harvard: expanding the university's efforts in the sciences, encouraging students to spend more time studying and working overseas, attracting more low-income students to Harvard through expanded financial aid, and improving the undergraduate experience.
``Yes, I have these last years been a man in a hurry," he said.
The president said he looked forward to the day when Harvard eliminates financial burdens for lower and middle-class families, and when those students are fully represented on the student body.
He expressed dissatisfaction with undergraduate education, saying ``we are still short of realizing all that our students are waiting for." He said the faculty needs to interact more with students, think about new ways to teach, and move beyond their own specializations to provide students a broad base of knowledge.
``For an institution like ours to make the great contributions the world rightly expects of us, we cannot rest complacent on this, the more comfortable side of innovation; on this, the more familiar side of the lectern," he said.
He added that he was honored to serve Harvard during the early days of what he hoped will be ``Harvard's greatest epoch."
``I have loved my work here, and I am sad to leave it," he said. ``There was much more I wanted, felt inspired, to do."
At a separate event Tuesday, Summers, according to a text of his remarks, joked with graduating seniors in a baccalaureate address that he, too, was a member of the Class of 2006. Taking a dig at some of the faculty who opposed him, Summers told the students that he, along with them, felt ``some members of the faculty did very well by us -- and others were, well . . . less well disposed."
And, Summers said, he and the students were all ``not sure just what comes next."
Elena Lalli , a graduating senior, said Summers's comments touched her.
``The class of 2006 is happy to count him among us," said Lalli, of Scarsdale, N.Y. ``He has amazing support from the student body. I thought he was a real leader."
Meanwhile, during the keynote commencement speech yesterday, journalist Jim Lehrer , host of ``The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," spoke about what he learned about himself, about depending on others, and about the world by serving in the Marine Corps after college.
He proposed that the United States create a national service program, perhaps even compulsory, that could include the Peace Corps, teachers, police, and medical workers, as well as the military.
``I believe what we need is a new, hard, real-world dose of shared experience," he said. ``We had one after 9/11, and it drifted away. We had it after Katrina, and it went away. We have yet to even have one on Iraq."
Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@globe.com. 