Summers created an uproar with his remarks last year at a conference when he suggested that innate differences between men and women may be one reason why fewer women thrive in math and science careers. The recent announcement of Harvard Dean William C. Kirby's resignation, which many believe was backed by Summers, added fuel to the fire that eventually prompted the president to resign.
Owing to accusations of arrogance and erraticism, continual spats with the faculty and the recent push by professors from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for a new no-confidence vote in the Harvard president, Summers resigned. In his letter to the Harvard community, Summers referred to tensions between himself and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. "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," he said.
According to a poll on the web site of the The Harvard Crimson, 32 percent of the 280-member Harvard faculty of Arts and Sciences believed Summers should resign, while 55 percent thought he should not. Additionally, a large majority of the college's undergraduates protested Summers' departure.
Richard Chait, a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education remarked, "He was more bombastic than humble, more skeptical than complimentary and so confident in his intelligence that he personalized issues. In a lot of ways he fought a one-man war."
Blogger Elise Stefanik, however, warned on "Summersville," a blog Web site devoted to Summers, of the dangerous message being sent to educational institutions as a whole. "The idea that faculty members can dictate the future of the management of Harvard University has now set the precedent that faculty members are responsible for the visioning, and execution of planning for all universities, as Harvard is a model of modern education," Stefanik wrote.
Most Amherst students, however, including Avi Das '07, feel that Summers' resignation was appropriate. "I think Summers was the right man for the job except in his inability to contain his personal thoughts, to have them burst out at the most inopportune times," Das said.
Professor of Religion Jamal Elias agreed, noting, "One must recognize that the president of any academic institution does not speak publicly in the capacity as a professor engaging in 'free' academic inquiry but as a shaper of policy. The reaction to Summer's statement on gender difference is based more on the office of the person issuing the statement than on the statement itself."
John Kim '06 added, "I think that Summers was irresponsible in his controversial pontifications, especially because he is no expert on the subject and never bothered to qualify his claims. If a scientist's main line of research dealt with such issues, there would be an appropriate time and forum for his conclusions; however, Summers committed both an academic and an administrative mistake in judgment when he tactlessly interpolated that particular remark."
Summers' resignation brings to question the role college presidents should assume. One of the problems faced by academic institutions like Harvard is what could be defined as the unwillingness of modern academia to tolerate freewheeling inquiry, suppressing academic freedom by bold individuals like Summers for political correctness.
Kim, however, commented, "Political correctness in itself is a good mode of mediating social discourse and civil interaction. Only on occasion does it impede any real social, intellectual or political improvement. These instances are of course much more clearly observed in hindsight, but I doubt that Summers' comments on gender is such an instance. I'd say a better head would benefit Harvard, or at least one who is more tactful in the public domain without sacrificing vision and audacity."
Elias concluded by stating, "Professor Summers was perceived by many as a difficult and autocratic administrator who ran into trouble on a number of fronts and upset several constituencies. The notorious statement concerning differences between men and women was only one of several factors, and I would guess not the main one."