Larry Summers Symbolizes Prejudice?
Posted on September 15th, 2007 in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
The Chronicle of Higher Ed follows up on the Larry Summers story.
The move followed a petition drive by female faculty members on the universityâs nearby Davis campus, where the board is meeting.
The faculty members said it was inappropriate for the regents to have Mr. Summers as their guest at a time when the university is struggling to diversity its faculty ranks.
The petition, which drew 150 signatures, said, âInviting a keynote speaker who has come to symbolize gender and racial prejudice in academia conveys the wrong message…
Do these people not realize that, in addition to being absurd, their actions will only have the effect of martyring Summers?
How many right-wing newspapers/columnists are taking pen to paper even now……
10 Responses
9/16/2007 12:46 pm
Right on, Richard. But the media is partly to blame. The myth that Summers fell because of political correctness is reinforced almost daily even in the respectable press.
In today’s Times in a review of the Taylor & Johnson book on the Duke debacle, Jeffrey Rosen (who should know better) only mildly criticizes the author without in any way challenging the political correctness myth:
In their final chapters, the authors go further. They believe that Brodhead was trying to avoid the fate of Lawrence Summers, deposed as president of Harvard for his incorrect views about gender equality, and that in the âalternative universeâ of academia, no university president can challenge the conceits of political correctness that are corrupting our greatest campuses. Here the book becomes a little hyperbolic and reads more like a blog than like the meticulous narrative that has come before. But if the authors are at times carried away by righteous indignation, they can surely be forgiven in light of the consequences of the abuses they describe.
Almost no one at Harvard believes that the gender controversy or political correctness brought down Summers. See Judith Ryan’s recent post for the important distinction between the events 2005 and 2006. The integrity issue was key-not the only problem but the one that turned the centrist respected faculty who made the difference in the end.
Why do not some responsible journalists challenge this myth?
9/16/2007 1:05 pm
“Lawrence Summers, deposed as president of Harvard for his incorrect views about gender equality”
What a joke. This is how lazily created media narratives turn into fact.
Great post, 12:46. I would only amend your last question to ask “Why are so few journalists responsible?”
Justin Pope, are you out there?
SE
9/16/2007 1:41 pm
I used to think that the press reports about why Lawrence Summers resigned were just falling back on easy (but, as I’ve said before, erroneous) catch phrases (“women in science,” “management style”). But, as 12:46 indicates, it’s just as easy to say “the integrity issue.” That was, indeed, a key element in faculty distrust of former President Summers.
9/16/2007 2:49 pm
How about?
It’s the ethics, stupid.
9/16/2007 2:50 pm
“Great post, 12:46″ Yes, except “media” is plural.
9/16/2007 4:21 pm
It really seems unnecessary to critique grammar and syntax on this site. But just for the record, here’s what the American Heritage says about usage of “media” as singular vs. “media” as plural:
The American Heritage® Book of English Usage.
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
3. Word Choice: New Uses, Common Confusion, and Constraints
§ 206. media
The word medium comes from Latin. It has two plural formsâa Latin plural media and a normal English -s plural mediums. Trouble arises when the Latin plural is used as a singular noun in the fields of mass communications and journalism.
< < People also use media with the definite article as a collective term to refer not to the forms of communication themselves so much as the communities and institutions behind them. In this sense, the media means something like âthe press.â Like other collective nouns, it may take a singular or plural verb depending on the intended meaning. If the point is to emphasize the multifaceted nature of the press, a plural verb may be more appropriate: The media have covered the trial in a variety of formats. Quite frequently, however, media stands as a singular noun for the aggregate of journalists and broadcasters: The media has not shown much interest in covering the trial. This development of a singular media parallels that of more established words such as data and agenda, which are also Latin plurals that have acquired a singular meaning. >>
9/16/2007 4:57 pm
Well said 4:21, and it is worth noting that the “a” of the neuter plural ending of second (-o) declension nouns and adjectives (data, media, agenda) is traced to the nominative singular “a” of collective nouns of the first (-a) declension. In Greek those neuter plurals are regularly found with singular verbs.
9/16/2007 9:40 pm
I am 2:50. I stand corrected.
I apologize.
Can we get back to the substance of what 12.46 posted?
9/16/2007 10:15 pm
2:50/9:40: Sorry to have conspired in the distraction, though it is no bad thing to clear up the confusion about Latin and English usage with these forms. Judith Ryan, above and yesterday — and as usual — gets it right.
9/16/2007 11:18 pm
He does represent to many prejudice and a style of leadership that is antithetical to important academic values.
Whether this is enough to ban him from speaking at Universities depends on the particulars of the University. He certainly would be uncomfortable company for more than one University President in need of affirming a commitment to essential university values. Similarly he would not be good company to Presidential candidates attempting to appeal to education constituencies.
The man has certainly many talents and gifts, but his record does bring some liabilities.
It is not self evident that the petitioners did anything stupid. Would you invite the man to give a graduation speech at an all women’s college? at an traditionally black college? if not, why? aren’t the same reasons to NOT invite him to those institutions valid in the case of a major research university?