Did we hear from Harvard magazine or the Crimson that this was Harvard's worst fundraising year in 16 years?
 

If it was, Summers is partly to blame... as well as the plagiarist.
 

Anon #1. Are you asking a question or stating a fact? If it is a fact, why don't you present it so that all of us can know what it is. If it is a question, certainly you are smart enough to know that you shouldn't try to prove a point without having all the facts. such an approach usually ends in failure.
Anon #2. You might be surprised to learn that Larry is (still) held in very high esteem by most of those alumni who contribute large sums of money to the university.
Many of them think the FAS faculty members are nothing more than whiners who are completely out of touch with the real world. I know this may be hard for you to believe, but it is true.
 

My hunch is that fundraising could be down because both pro- and anti-Summers alums would have reason not to give... The pro-Summers folks are obviously displeased, and the anti-Summers people could have been holding back through February. Both parties might also be waiting for the appointment of a new president before writing checks.

The general rule, I imagine, is that controversy of any sort doesn't help university fundraising....
 

Anon #3 (responding to Anon #2). In fact I've heard the opposite to what you gather, which makes it likely, the world being less simple than either the pro-Summers or anti-Summers groups would like, that richard's 8:44 post is right.
 

Anon #4. You obviously haven't talked to the alumni that I have, most of whom strongly support Larry. You obviously haven't been to alumni dinners where those who contribute substantial sums are nearly unanimous in their praise of Larry and very much against the FAS faculty.
Notice I didn't say (but you attributed to me) anything about current contributions (although my understanding is that there is no real current problem; obviously the campaign needs to be put on hold until a new president is named, but campaign contributions are very different from current ones)but simply the matter of support for Larry. It is there and it is very strong among wealthy alumni, particularly those from New York, Boston and Chicago.
To perhaps anticipate your response...I am not a member of the Harvard administration.
 

Those would particularly be the ones who were grateful to Summers for driving out Jack Meyer for his financial incompetence.