Open Statement to the Harvard Community by 186 Faculty

We write to you in concern for the future and stability of our University. We support University President Lawrence H. Summers’ continued role as president of Harvard.

Many voices have objected to key aspects of Summers’ leadership. It is important for these voices to be heard. President Summers has given many signs—including the release of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) conference transcript—that he has not only listened to his critics but intends to bring substantive changes to his leadership approach. After frustrations are fully vented in coming days—as they should be—we believe it essential for the future of the University that Summers have a chance to prove that he can be not only a highly effective and visionary president but also a responsive and collegial president.

Any drastic action in the current charged atmosphere would be highly divisive, and would damage our great University. We believe that this is an opportunity for constructive change and trust that our president will seize it to make Harvard an even more productive environment for both women and men.

Along with many of the Faculty, we believe that Summers has made mistakes during his tenure as president, and we agree that his personal interactions sometimes feel confrontational. But we also believe that he has made and will continue to make positive and significant contributions to our University. We are confident in Summers because we believe that his decisions are guided by a fundamental commitment to the ideals of scholarship and teaching that define this institution.

In a lifetime of public service, Summers has contributed to both the academic community and the broader world. He has a passionate commitment to our University. With his remarkable energy, he has taken on the enormous challenge of leading Harvard in the 21st century. At his initiative, the University has improved access by making our financial aid far more generous. He devotes himself to finding and implementing policies that enrich the minds of Harvard’s students and extend the frontiers of human understanding. He is also an active participant in this process as a teacher in our curriculum and as an advisor to our students. He relishes opportunities to talk about ideas with students and faculty, in groups large and small.

Scholarship is a process of open intellectual exchange. In such an interactive environment, disagreements should be discussed with both sides listening carefully to the other. We hope that the faculty will adopt this principle as it contemplates the future of Harvard.

The comments of many individuals are reflected in this statement. The statement was endorsed by 186 full professors on the Harvard Faculty. Click here for a complete list. Lecturers, assistant and associate professors, and school deans were not made signatories to this statement to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest.