Summers responded that because everyone at the University makes a choice whether or not to come, Harvard must be responsive to students and faculty to compete with its peers.

“That’s a much more important kind of responsiveness than who’s on what committee,” he said.

Michael J. Hines ’03-’04 asked Summers whether he supported the civil disobedience of the 2001 living wage campaign, when members of the Progressive Student Labor Movement staged a sit-in at Mass. Hall.

Though Summers hailed civil disobedience for the many important objectives it has achieved, he noted that its practitioners must be willing to pay the price of protest.

“If you recall Gandhi or you read Martin Luther King or you read any thoughtful...proponent of civil disobedience, they will tell you that the punishment is central to the concept of civil disobedience,” Summers said. “We should all be able to agree that accepting consequences is part of civil disobedience.”

Adebola S. Owolewa ’05 then pressed him about the role of legacy in the College’s admissions.

Before answering Owolewa’s question, Summers joked, “It’s really great to be here.”

Summers said that some legacy preference is not unreasonable, pointing out that it’s a way for the University to maintain a greater community and garner alumni support—financially and otherwise—with an admissions process that is still fair.

CLASS DISMISSED

Palmer said he was glad Summers decided to come, noting that after three invitations, this was Summers’ first appearance in one of his classes.

Yesterday’s class was “very close to my idea of education as open deliberation about pressing social and individual choices,” Palmer said after class.

Students said they enjoyed the exchanges, noting that the atmosphere was much more adversarial than it had been for other speakers.

Nathan C. Chambers ’07 said he thought the more heated back-and-forth discussion was due to Summers’ political leanings.

“He’s probably the most right-wing speaker we get,” said Chambers. “He’s really the only one. Almost all of our speakers have been really leftist.”

Raquel O. Alvarenga ’07 said Palmer’s question to Summers was much tougher than the ones he has asked other speakers.