So, as part of the rehabilitation of Larry Summers, Tufts president Lawrence Bacow invited the hedge fund employee and former Harvard president to give a talk. Innocent enough, right? Well, now some Tufts professors are calling for a boycott of Summers’ lecture.

According to InsideHigherEd….

Having Larry Summers here is like a slap in the face,” said Gary Goldstein, a professor in the physics and astronomy department. “I see him being invited here as a lack of awareness about how that affects our campus environment.

How exactly does it affect your “campus environment,” Professor Goldstein?

(In fairness to the professor, I should at least mention his argument: It’s a high-profile lecture series which he feels has been weighted toward conservative speakers—apparently Summers falls into that category—at the expense of “progressive” speakers.)

I, um, haven’t always been supportive of Summers. But the man has hardly done anything boycott-worthy. All this does is confirm Summers’ arguments about the mediocrity of the professoriat.

(Although at least Goldstein is a scientist; if he were a humanist, all of Summers’ stereotypes would be fulfilled.)

Goldstein goes on to say, “Having Larry Summers here is like a slap in the face.” Professor Goldstein is clearly a sensitive man.

On another note, Summers’ talk is entitled “Rethinking Undergraduate Education.” Is this more evidence that Summers is working on a book about universities?