The suggestions of Bennett, Gordon and othersmean that Meyer--with more than two years underhis belt--may be due for a performance reviewsometime soon.

"They should have a performance review ifHarvard were in the real world," Gordon said.

If that is true, then alumni concerns aboutHMC's lackluster returns may be given seriousconsideration.

These include questions about the heavyweighting of the policy portfolio towardexpensive-to-manage investments in foreignsecurities and venture capital, and about Meyer'scontinued support of Sperling and Eisenson.

"I think that there's a fundamental mismatchbetween the strategy that they have and the peoplethat they have," said one alumnus in theinvestment management industry. "To the degreethat you look to Jack Meyer as somebody who isresponsible for selecting and managing hisindividual asset managers, then that is a criteriafor evaluating Meyer."

In addition, Gordon and others have criticizedMeyer for his failure to disclose what specificinvestments Aeneas makes.

"I think there's a pattern here of cavalierdisregard for the outside world," Gordon said."They would seem to be most comfortable withgiving out the minimum possible information thatthey possibly can get away with, and I think thatthis is a very damaging course of action becausein doing so they avoid accountability to theoutside Harvard community."

Still, others have come to the HMC president'sdefense.

"Thank God for Jack Meyer," said one alumnusand financial expert. "I can't think of anyone inthe United States I'd rather have [as HMCpresident]."

Another alumnus said that Meyer should be givenmore time.

"In fairness, you should give Meyer anothercouple of years," the source said He addedhowever, "I don't think we can afford to let himhave 10 to 15 years of sub par performance."

Rudenstine said he has complete confidence inthe management company's leadership.

"Any management of any portfolio is always opento criticism and we should listen to it. But youtake it into account and then you make your bestjudgment as to what to do," Rudenstine said. "Onceyou've made your decision you either decide thatyou have good managers or you don't, and I thinklast year's performance was quite a goodperformance."

Still, some critics have suggested that,as one of only a handful of universities in thecountry with its own in-house endowment managementteam, Harvard may want to consider a gradual moveback to independent management by competitivefirms.

Combined with lengthy tenures for investmentmanagers, the in-house system reduces theincentive to perform by eliminating anycompetition for Harvard's business, the criticssaid.