Goldin said in an interview that the complaints most people have about Summers concern his style of leadership rather than with the direction in which he is leading the University. She said one possible solution is to surround Summers with older, more seasoned advisors who would “remind him how to be presidential.”
Goldin and Laibson requested signatures only from tenured professors, they said, because they did not want the letter to be subject to suspicion that junior faculty, who could one day have their tenure applications come before Summers, were coerced into signing it.
Summers’ supporters were not well represented at last week’s meeting. Only Wisse spoke openly in support of Summers, while the eight professors who criticized him had their comments met with loud applause.
But those who want Summers to stay on as President say they intend to show up in numbers today.
“At this point we cannot be apathetic. We have to be involved,” Glaeser said. “We need to speak up and speak up in a way that does not diminish the fear and concerns of our colleagues, There will be far more members of the economics department [at today’s meeting] than we have seen in recent memory.”
Professors who are more critical of Summers—many of whom wish to see him resign as President according to a poll conducted by The Crimson—say they have remained in constant contact via e-mail throughout the week, though they have not released a letter of their own.
DRAWING tHE LINES
While the landscape is politically charged, the political fault lines themselves are not so easy to draw.
Some professors are openly and forcefully in support of Summers, while many others feel his presidency is beyond salvation and are intent to see him go.
There is also a large group of professors who lie somewhere in between, both critical of Summers but unsure if his resignation is in the best interest of the University.
According to Porter Professor of Medieval Latin Jan Ziolkowski, today’s meeting could potentially exacerbate divisions along several fronts.
“I’m frankly worried about the kind of divisions that have been created already, and I get the sense that the faculty may well end up splitting partly along divisional lines, partly along political lines, and for all I know, even along other lines as well,” Ziolkowski said.
“I think the chances of divisions growing less are much, much smaller than of divisions growing bigger, and I regret that,” he added.
Weary Professor of German and Comparative Literature Judith Ryan said she suspects many professors do not want Summers to resign but have nonetheless refused to sign Goldin and Laibson’s letter.
“I believe that [some professors who did not sign the petition] want the outside world to know that they don’t agree with Summers’ position and that they want to see proof of substantive change,” said Ryan, who herself did not sign the letter. “I myself feel that it is important to make sure that Summers hears this message clearly and that he doesn’t end up thinking that the whole affair was merely a storm in a teacup.”
Ryan said she has not yet decided if she believes Summers should resign.
Glaeser added that while many professors are critical of Summers, he is “surprised by how many people have expressed a desire for a more moderate solution that involves President Summers staying on rather than leaving.”
—Staff writer William C. Marra can be reached at wmarra@fas.harvard.edu.