“One of the consequences is that teaching fellows will become a scarce resource, and faculty will be required to rethink how we teach,” Ellison said.
But Ellison pointed out that the effect may dovetail with one of Summers’ other priorities—increasing the size of the faculty. With more teachers and smaller classes, there would not be the same need for graduate students to teach.
The effect of Summers’ surprising announcement will be felt throughout higher education, observers said.
“This is huge. This will rock higher education,” one said.
When Princeton University announced that it would significantly increase financial aid several years ago, administrators at Harvard worried about trying to keep pace.
Administration sources said while Harvard’s move to improve graduate student financial aid will not set off a bidding war, its effects will be felt.
One source said another Ivy league president has expressed worry that the plan could cause budgetary anxieties.
Broader Themes
Beyond the specific hopes Summers enumerated for the first part of his administration, his speech also touched on a wide range of broader themes.
Summers said Harvard has an opportunity to awake a generation to public service. Distancing himself from a common criticism of Harvard that it saves but does not spend, Summers stressed that Harvard should be judged not by what it accumulates but by what it contributes.
And a source said that when Summers’ described the University as “forever young” he was alluding to a vision of the University in which young faculty members are prized, and old traditions are not untouchable.
On other points, Summers’ language echoed and responded to current University events. In an apparent recognition of the debate over Harvard labor, Summers mentioned appreciating not only those “who read books, [and] those who write books,” but “those who shelve books.”
While avoiding directly mentioning the Progressive Student Labor Movement’s living wage campaign, he repeatedly emphasized his openness to different viewpoints and ideas. But he also said, “All ideas are worthy of consideration here—but not all perspectives are equally valid.”
In another echo of recent headlines, he also said the University must honor those who defend freedom. In a recent visit to the Undergraduate Council, he expressed support for the Reserve Officer Training Corps, but did not directly state that he supported its reintroduction on campus.
In closing his speech, Summers noted that Harvard must take risks, and must sometimes fail. His installation heralded an era of change that according to his speech may be more dramatic than any in recent history.
—Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.