Ellwood said the idea for the letter came out of a discussion at a dinner attended by all six professors.
They composed and fine-tuned a letter over e-mail and sent it to their colleagues over intersession.
“I’m sure we reached only a fraction of the faculty who might have wanted to participate,” Skocpol said.
Signers of the letter included Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz, Professor of Economics Lawrence Katz, Dean of KSG Joseph S. Nye, Dean of Undergraduate Education Susan G. Pedersen’81-’82, Malkin Professor of Public Policy Robert D. Putnam, Stone Professor of International Trade Jeffrey D. Sachs ’76 and Masters from five of the 12 Houses.
University spokesperson Rebecca Rollins said Summers had received the letter but had not yet crafted a response.
Knowles said he was pleased with the faculty initiative.
“I am very glad that my colleagues showed their support,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Too often we’re all so busy that we take each other’s presence here for granted.”
—Staff writer Kate L. Rakoczy can be reached at rakoczy@fas.harvard.edu.