Members of FAS say during his first three years in office, Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby has yet to stand up to Summers publicly.

And the restructuring of the College in 2003—resulting in the firing of then-Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 and the promotion of Summers’ tennis partner Benedict H. Gross ’71 to the post—is an oft-cited example of the way that Summers has reorganized University Hall to his benefit.

TWO HANDS IN EVERY POT

Professor of the History of Science Everett I. Mendelsohn said last year that Summers has tried to exert much more influence over Kirby and Gross than his predecessors, noting that “they feel constraints from across the Old Yard”—where Mass. Hall sits.

“[Former University President Neil L.] Rudenstine gave University Hall [the Faculty and College administration building] a large degree of autonomy on how they handled most things,” Mendelsohn said. “I think Summers wants a lot more influence—I felt that on a number of occasions on the Faculty Council, when we would be told, directly or indirectly, that the president really did want something to happen.”

Mendelsohn, who has spoken frequently at faculty meetings about curtailing Summers’ involvement in FAS affairs, reaffirmed those opinions last week.

Summers’ hands-on style has involved him much more intimately in the affairs of the tubs, especially FAS.

His involvement in internal affairs often ruffles feathers. And in the instance of his now-infamous discussion with former Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74, when he attempted to redirect West’s energies from rap music to more traditional academic fare, it backfired completely. West subsequently left for Princeton, sparking the beginning of a decline for what used to be the world’s best department of African-American studies (Please see story, page B3).

And while Summers says he has denied tenure to fewer professors than Rudenstine, his involvement in ad hoc committees has aroused some of the fiercest reactions from faculty.

While faculty can name a number of cases that have irked them, freshest on the minds of many is that of Lawrence D. Bobo, the former Diker and Tishman professor of sociology and of African and African American studies, and his wife, Marcyliena Morgan, formerly an associate professor of African and African American studies. The pair left for Stanford at the end of last semester after Summers reportedly denied Morgan tenure, even though one professor told The Crimson that she was approved unanimously by her department.

Both Rudenstine and Summers rejected between 5 and 10 percent of tenure cases that came to them for review during “comparable periods,” according to FAS Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Vincent Tompkins through a University spokesman. Tompkins declined to elaborate through the spokesman as well.

Summers has taken his involvement in ad hocs as an opportunity to shape departments as disparate as microbiology and theology, electrical engineering and constitutional law, but professors say that some of Summers’ vetoes have been made without adequate understanding of the field under review and that the president should defer more to departments.

Summers’ involvement in the ongoing curricular review was seen as heavy-handed by some in comparison to what has been the traditional level of presidential involvement in curricular matters. His withdrawal from the planning process earlier this semester—after the March 15 lack of confidence vote—was a consequence of significant faculty pressure to scale back his involvement in FAS affairs, professors said, although Summers says he had always planned to step back at this point in the process.

“He came under the general criticism that he was trying to micromanage some of the Faculty’s affairs, so I think he decided that it would be best if he withdrew” from the review, said Baird Professor of Science Gary J. Feldman at the time.

Summers’ critics—especially a group of department chairs at FAS that is fast emerging as a key University power player—say that this unilateral approach to university governance has left many at Harvard behind. (Please see related story, "In Their Own Hands.").