At Harvard, Tick-tock
Javier Hernandez and Daniel Schuker report in the Crimson that the Harvard presidential search committee is meeting today with the Board of Overseers, prompting those of us with too much time on our hands to wonder if all involved will really pass up the Super Bowl to name a new president today.
(Go Colts, by the way.)
And in the Globe, Maria Sachetti (who is this mysterious new scribe on the scene?) and the M-Bomb report that
Drew Faust now "appears" to be the leading contender for the presidency.
Sachetti and Bombardieri lead their piece this way—and I think their wording is significant.
A prominent female historian and Harvard dean, who has never run a major institution, appears to be the front-runner for the Harvard University presidency now that a Nobel prize-winning scientist has bowed out.
The key words there are "who has never run a major institution." If indeed Faust is the choice, this caveat may well become a cliché.
Am I wrong, or is there something of a subswell—that's like a groundswell, except underground—to stop Faust? I've sensed it in some comments folks have made to me lately—a concern about whether she can move from managing Radcliffe (which, let's be honest, a good percentage of the Harvard community doesn't take seriously) to running Harvard.
First, of course, was Peter Gomes' editorial in the Crimson, which appeared to be a warning to the Overseers not to be hasty, which would appear to be a shot against Faust, since, without Thomas Cech in the running, she is the default candidate.
Second, consider this quote from the Globe:
Some professors, alumni , and others say that the other two internal candidates, law school dean Elena Kagan and provost Steven E. Hyman , could have been hurt by their ties to Summers, who hired them. He did not hire Faust, but she appeared to be a closer adviser to him than the others, according to two professors who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A
closer adviser to Summers? Well, well. When exactly did you stop beating your wife, Ms. Faust?
The long knives have come out.
But wait! (And here I will mix metaphors.) Because the hits just keep on coming.
While some faculty and alumni are delighted at the possibility of a Faust presidency, others, who refused to be quoted, said they believe she would not be a strong leader. Several professors said they view her as more cautious than creative, prone to expressing middle-of-the-road ideas. Some of these critics worry that Harvard's search committee is so concerned about finding someone different from Summers that they are going too far in the opposite direction.
Interesting. These criticisms have never made their way into print before. But now that a Faust presidency appears on the verge of becoming a reality, her detractors are (yes) taking off the kid gloves.
What's going on here? As Peter Gomes suggested in
his wonderfully cryptic Crimson editorial, it's nothing less than
a struggle for the soul of the world's most powerful university....
Meanwhile, as the Crimson points out, the Corporation finds itself in a very difficult bind. If it names Faust now, it may look as if she were the second choice after Cech, coming so soon after Cech publicly withdrew.
But if the Corporation waits, and reconsiders other candidates, Faust twists in the wind...and if they let her twist for too long, would she—as any self-respecting human might—withdraw her candidacy?
What has already been established is that if Faust is named president, she will not march into the office at the head of a parade. I fear that already this has been successfully framed—by events, and by Faust's doubters—as an underwhelming choice.
Just remember that phrase from the Globe:
who has never run a major institution....Isn't it funny how a search process that began so harmoniously—everyone on the same page, coming together, healing Harvard, etc.—has so rapidly disintegrated?
One of the questions that will—and should—be asked in the aftermath is,
Has the Corporation botched its second straight search?
A second one will be why so many people didn't want the Harvard job. My sleeper candidate,
David Oxtoby of Pomona, withdrew from consideration, according to that university's newspaper, which runs with the headline, "
Oxtoby Says No Thanks to Harvard."
Here's another perception problem: If Drew Faust is named president, she may be seen as having gotten the job because she was one of the few who wanted it...and people will wonder if her desire to be Harvard's first female president kept her in the running long after others whom the Corporation wanted more bowed out.
Meanwhile, the Yale Herald prints a short item—wickedly written, I must say—with the headline, "
Harvard Gets Rejected."
It reads:
After years of sending out rejection letters by the metric ton, Harvard is finally getting a taste of its own medicine. The university has met with unusually forceful denials in its attempts to fill former President Lawrence Summers’ shoes. Former Yale College Dean and Duke President Richard Brodhead, BR ’68 GRD ’72, brusquely rejected the Cantab presidency, saying, “I already have a great job.” Stanford Provost John Etchemendy is no more willing, bluntly stating, “I am not a candidate.” Tufts University President Lawrence Bacow and Cambridge’s Vice Chancellor Alison Richardson have expressed similar sentiments. Judging by the general apathy of these top candidates, it’s pretty apparent that these days, no one wants to go to Harvard.
A little over the top at the end there, but still. Perception is reality, folks—something Larry Summers understood—and I guarantee you that whenever a president is named, the Harvard spin machine will not be able to keep this question—Why did so many say no?—out of the press.
Why not?
Because it's a fair question.
