Still, much is left to flesh out.
“President Faust articulates a wonderful communal vision of the University’s mission,” history professor Charles S. Maier ’60 wrote in an email. “But how it will translate into actual institutional initiatives, whether internationalization or edX or the allocation of resources, still remains less specified.”
This ability to articulate goals is important, according to former Provost Harvey V. Fineberg ’67—a major fundraiser in the University’s last campaign.
“It’s essential, because the president represents a singular voice,” said Fineberg, who argued that in capital campaigns the president of any institution holds the effort together.
Calls for a clear statement of goals have been joined by demands for a bolder vision altogether.
Graduate School of Education professor Howard E. Gardner ’65, who knows Faust well, said that her reticence is likely a result of the brashness that many say characterized Summers’s presidency and ultimately led to its undoing.
“We want [a strong position] from leaders; we want to know what you are willing to go to the mat for, what is important to you,” Gardner said. “I think by nature she is a private person, but also she saw what happened in the previous administration.”
Faust now faces what may be a defining moment in her presidency.
“She is the face of the campaign,” said Richard P. Chait, an Education School professor who studies higher education governance. “You can see what the priorities are; you can infer what the vision will be. In an odd way, it’s both a test of substance of the campaign and a test of the president.”
—Staff writer Nikita Kansra can be reached at nkansra01@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @NikitaKansra.
—Staff writer Samuel Y. Weinstock can be reached at sweinstock@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @syweinstock.