University President Lawrence H. Summers isn’t easily intimidated.

But when it comes to the Harvard Divinity School (HDS), Summers readily concedes his ignorance.

“Of all of Harvard’s Schools, I approach Divinity with the greatest trepidation,” he said last September.

And so when Summers was faced with the task of selecting a new dean for the school as soon as he took office, he had to learn fast.

His eight-month search—a substantially longer period than he took to install new deans at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), the Graduate School of Education and the Law School—reflected both his unfamiliarity with the school and the deep divides facing one of the only non-denominational divinity schools in the nation.

After soliciting input from countless faculty members at HDS and across the University, Summers concluded that the time was ripe to reevaluate the mission and focus of a school that has changed dramatically since its last curricular review over 20 years ago.

And after appointing William A. Graham as dean last August, Summers expounded on his vision at the Divinity School’s convocation address this September.

He outlined the major questions facing the school—whether the school should train ministers or academics, whether it should focus on Christianity or many faiths and whether the school’s professional degrees truly carry any weight.

But these questions did not originate in Mass. Hall—they came from the divinity faculty itself.

Since then, Summers has watched almost entirely from the sidelines, meeting with Graham regularly to keep posted on the progress of the school’s curricular review but doing little else.

It has been up to Graham forge a clear mission for the oft-unfocused school.

While the curricular review intended to address these issues is underway, little headway has been made in resolving the thorniest and most divisive issues that speak to the school’s mission.

The faculty largely agree that a curricular review is in order, but what the review should accomplish is still an open question.

And although the review is an entry point for debating the school’s role, no consensus has been reached about where the school should come down on Summers’ questions.

The ‘Encourager’