Eighteen of the 30 Overseers arrived at the Rainbow Room of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan that sunny Sunday morning. Others participated by conference call. Summers and the committee were waiting for them.

Overseers present at the meeting said committee members individually explained their reasons for selecting Summers—highlighting his intelligence, vision and focus on undergraduates. Afterwards, Summers himself discussed the importance of Harvard's mission, describing it as a catalyst for new ideas.

Overseer C. Dixon Spangler Jr., who was present at the meeting, described Summers' presentation as “well thought-out.”

Summers and members of the Harvard Corporation then left the room, allowing the Overseers to conduct a private vote.

The vote was unanimous—18 yeas, zero nays.

"The Fellows recommended, and we discussed, considered and approved that choice," Spangler said.

After a short celebration, elated committee members—Houghton, Gray, Gagnon, and Stone—Summers and University spokesperson Joe Wrinn piled into a convoy of chauffeured sedans and raced for Newark airport. There awaited Houghton's private Corning jet, ready to whisk them to Cambridge and a scheduled 5:30 p.m. press conference to announce to the world that Summers would be the 27th president of Harvard University.

Two hours later, Summers stood in the ballroom of Loeb House, looked out into a sea of television cameras, and stated simply, "It's good to be home. I accept."