At Harvard, It's Deja Vu All Over Again
Judith Ryan, a professor of German and comparative literature, has
e-mailed the Crimson that she will be putting a motion of no-confidence on the agenda for the February 28th faculty meeting in hopes of pressuring Larry Summers to resign.
Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that another professor will place a motion on the docket calling upon Summers to resign.
Peter Bol, professor of East Asian languages, has an interesting quote regarding the decanal search: “There are two views in the faculty,” Bol said. “One is that the right kind of dean will be able to work with the president; the other is that it does not matter who the dean is, no one will be able to work with the president. If a majority of the faculty believe that having the right kind of person will work, then the rest should step back and let the President choose whom he will. If a majority of the faculty no longer believe that anyone could work successfully with the president, then that is a lack of confidence.”
I think that is both true and, in its framing of the issue, quite strategically clever. It's particularly significant given that, as I understand it, Bol isn't just any old prof, but was considered (before everything fell apart) a candidate to replace Bill Kirby...and here he is, implying that he couldn't work with Larry Summers.....
One thing is for sure: Having raised again the issue of Summers' suitability to be the president of Harvard, the faculty can not now back down, lest it invites the perception that it is merely grumpy and whiny and immature. (Not my sense, but you know how those darn journalists can twist things.)
If you have your boot on the neck of your enemy—for the second time—you can not again release it.
Public relations will be important. If I were on the Harvard faculty, I would think strategically about how to work with the press and interested parties such as myself. You know the folks in Mass Hall will be doing it....
Last time around, the faculty was caricatured in some quarters as out-of-touch and left-wing. "Hysterical."
This time around, the stakes are even higher. IMHO, the people who speak to the press should a) know what their message is, and b) stay on it. And the faculty needs to be proactive in reaching out to the press.
I'd say, get David Gergen to work on it, but he's taken....
Of course, all this advice is moot if the New York Times continues its ostrich-like approach to covering this story.....
