A Shot Across the Bow
Here's a headline in today's Crimson that says a lot: "Professors Doubt Truth of Summers' Remarks." (For the link, go to www.thecrimson.com -- while in Portland, I'm using a computer that is not, shall we say, blogger-friendly.)
The story is about Summers' remarks regarding whether he has plans to remove from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences its monopoly on the awarding of Ph.D.s. At a recent faculty meeting, he flat-out denied that he had discussed the idea. In fact, it appears that he has discussed it repeatedly.
Why does this matter? Several reasons.
1) In the past, it would have been unthinkable for Harvard professors to accuse the president of lying. No matter how much they disagreed with the president, the faculty would never have accused any Harvard president of outright falsity.
2) No Harvard president--that I know of, anyway--has actually given the faculty reason to believe him a liar.
3) The fact that the story is out in today's Crimson--and in the Boston Globe--shows that Summers' faculty opponents have no intention of easing off the pressure.
4) I can't really speak to the merits of the plan, since it's something I'm not an expert on...but it would surely be another way for Summers to diminish the power of the FAS.
5) Once again, the weakness of Bill Kirby's deanship is revealed. A strong FAS dean would be fighting such a plan tooth-and-nail. Summers won't even allow Kirby to discuss whether or not it's in play.
