Harvard President at the Centre of Controversy Once Again
Professors at Harvard have circulated an email criticising "backbiting" by the university's controversial president, Larry Summers, following his reported comments about senior staff.
Harvard professors have circulated an email criticising "backbiting" by the university's controversial president, Larry Summers, following his reported comments about senior staff.
The student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, reported sources close to Professor Summers as saying he had planned to sack William Kirby, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, last year.
However the controversy that erupted in January over the president's remarks about female academics meant that he was not in a position to carry out his intentions, the paper reported.
At a private meeting, he speculated that differences between male and female brains explained why there were few women at top universities in science and maths, igniting a national row that turned the spotlight on his record at Harvard where last year only four of 32 tenure offers were made to women.
And the reported comments about Professor Kirby alarmed some of his staff again this week.
Today Professor Summers responded with an email to staff expressing his full confidence and support for Professor Kirby. His spokesman, John Longbrake, told EducationGuardian.co.uk: "There are always a lot of rumours and gossip around and we don't dignify them with comment."
A email circulated by a group of 18 professors said they were "appalled that sources described as 'a professor close to the central administration and an individual in regular contact with members of the Corporation' ... have spread rumors about President Summer's intention to fire the dean of [the faculty of arts and sciences], William Kirby, in December 2004, and about his subsequent inability to do so during the crisis around his presidency.
"We think it is highly improper if, as reported, the president of Harvard has been expressing to members of the faculty his 'deep dissatisfaction' with the dean of arts and sciences. This kind of backbiting is more than unprofessional.
"It undercuts the work and the morale of colleagues within [the faculty of arts and sciences] and damages the institution as a whole," they added.
The Crimson reported: "The conflicting leadership styles of the strong-willed president and the more reserved dean have been particularly visible in their efforts to guide the ongoing Harvard College curricular review. While the review continues to face intense scrutiny and criticism from the faculty, Summers stepped down from his leading role in the review in the spring of last year."
The student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, reported sources close to Professor Summers as saying he had planned to sack William Kirby, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, last year.
However the controversy that erupted in January over the president's remarks about female academics meant that he was not in a position to carry out his intentions, the paper reported.
At a private meeting, he speculated that differences between male and female brains explained why there were few women at top universities in science and maths, igniting a national row that turned the spotlight on his record at Harvard where last year only four of 32 tenure offers were made to women.
And the reported comments about Professor Kirby alarmed some of his staff again this week.
Today Professor Summers responded with an email to staff expressing his full confidence and support for Professor Kirby. His spokesman, John Longbrake, told EducationGuardian.co.uk: "There are always a lot of rumours and gossip around and we don't dignify them with comment."
A email circulated by a group of 18 professors said they were "appalled that sources described as 'a professor close to the central administration and an individual in regular contact with members of the Corporation' ... have spread rumors about President Summer's intention to fire the dean of [the faculty of arts and sciences], William Kirby, in December 2004, and about his subsequent inability to do so during the crisis around his presidency.
"We think it is highly improper if, as reported, the president of Harvard has been expressing to members of the faculty his 'deep dissatisfaction' with the dean of arts and sciences. This kind of backbiting is more than unprofessional.
"It undercuts the work and the morale of colleagues within [the faculty of arts and sciences] and damages the institution as a whole," they added.
The Crimson reported: "The conflicting leadership styles of the strong-willed president and the more reserved dean have been particularly visible in their efforts to guide the ongoing Harvard College curricular review. While the review continues to face intense scrutiny and criticism from the faculty, Summers stepped down from his leading role in the review in the spring of last year."
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