Af-Am, Summers Clash Publicly

University President Lawrence H. Summers met with Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74 yesterday in an efforts to mend a rift that threatened to send the prominent member of the Afro-American Studies department packing for Princeton.

“They had a good meeting, they cleared the air, they left with a feeling of mutual respect,” a University spokesperson said.

West was upbeat after the meeting but declined to comment about its content.

“The important thing is that the precious Harvard tradition is bigger than Summers, myself or any of us,” was all West would say.

Summers also met with DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr.—chair of the department—Wednesday evening, leaving Gates “hopeful that [West and Summers] will resolve their differences very soon.”

“I have talked to Larry Summers several times, and I am confident...that he and Professor West will be able to engage in civil dialogue.”

Summers enraged members of the Afro-American Studies department by meeting with West and reportedly criticizing the professor for his outside activities, including working with the Rev. Al Sharpton’s presidential campaign and recording a rap album during a medical leave of absence.

Summers denied chastising West for the use of his time away from Harvard.

“I would never criticize someone for taking a medical leave nor have I criticized any faculty members concerning extracurriculars,” he said in an interview with The Crimson yesterday.

A source close to the parties involved called Summers’ behavior during the meeting “abrasive.”

Following the meeting, the Boston Globe and the New York Times reported that West and Professor of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy K. Anthony Appiah were considering leaving Harvard for Princeton. West confirmed that he will be taking a leave of absence next semester, and a spokesperson said the leave was not strictly for medical reasons, although West is scheduled for prostate cancer surgery at the end of this month.

Prominent black leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson flew to Harvard to hold a press conference on New Year’s Day and the Rev. Al Sharpton threatened suit against Summers for trying to prevent West from working on his campaign.

Now, Summers seems to be on track for smoothing tensions, and some members of the Afro-American Studies department are downplaying the seriousness of the conflict.

In an interview with The Crimson Wednesday, Appiah said he had not considered leaving Harvard and denied that he had an offer from Princeton.

“I have had...very good conversations with him,” Appiah said. “In one conversation, he made it plain that he was very much hoping that I wouldn’t go. He hasn’t done anything to push me out—if that’s what you’ve heard, it’s not true.”

Appiah also said that while he did visit Princeton recently, he was not accompanied by West, and that the visit was not for the purpose of discussing a possible move.

“I had dinner with the provost of Princeton [Amy Gutmann] who is a good friend of mine,” Appiah said.

In the national media, the professors’ dispute has played out in distinctly racial terms, with the Boston Globe and the New York Times both reporting that professors in the department were offended by Summers’ failure to adequately support affirmative action.

But according to some members of the department, this part of the conflict was blown out of proportion.

One official in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences said some colleagues in University Hall blame West for making a private dispute into a media scandal.

Gates—who said he has received no offer from Princeton—said yesterday he was “confident that [Summers] believes in diversity and excellence.” And Appiah said he hadn’t questioned Summers’ commitment to affirmative action.

In a Wednesday statement, Summers

cited the University’s “long-standing

commitment to diversity,” and vowed to “maintain that commitment.”

Climenko Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree Jr., who is acting as West’s spokesperson in the conflict, expressed his approval of Summers’ statement in an interview Wednesday with The Crimson.

“It meets the objectives that many people had set forth—it’s strong, it’s clear, it’s unequivocal,” Ogletree said. “We have made incredible progress with President Summers, and I am very happy with the way things have developed,” he said.

Summers said yesterday that he does not have a meeting scheduled with Jackson or Sharpton, nor does he have any plans at the present for such a conference.

—Juliet J. Chung, Lauren R. Dorgan, David H. Gellis and Daniel K. Rosenheck contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Kate L. Rakoczy can be reached at rakoczy@fas.harvard.edu.