Yesterday morning--a typical Wednesday--a handful of students were rushing to finish their breakfasts in Annenberg before hurrying off to class, while dining hall staff made lunch preparations in the background.

All was normal, until an unexpected visitor arrived on the scene.

President-elect Lawrence H. Summers entered Annenberg yesterday morning through its back door. As he strode down the dining hall aisle sporting a light gray overcoat and crimson tie, one student shook his hand and spoke to him briefly.

Summers was not admonished by dining hall staff for having entered through the wrong door--being the president-elect appears to have its perks.

Summers made his way from table to table, stopping to shake hands and chat with several students.

After about five minutes, a cluster of six to eight students had gathered around him.

Winthrop J. Ruml '04 was one of the students who spoke with Summers.

"We shot the breeze," Ruml said. "We just spoke about spring break plans. He wanted to know who was going home. He told us how he'd studied at MIT and then at Harvard as a grad student. He wanted to know our concentrations."