At Tufts, Summers Urges Changes in Higher Ed

SOMERVILLE—Eliot University Professor Lawrence H. Summers critized higher education practices in a lecture at Tufts University yesterday that drew extensively on his experiences as Harvard president.

The speech, including some of his first public remarks on education since his resignation last year, came amidst protest and promised boycott from some Tufts faculty members, who objected to comments he made in 2005 about the intrinsic aptitude of women in math and science.

Summers led with jokes that brought laughter from the audience of Tufts students and professors.

He wryly said his view of academia before his Harvard presidency was one in which “everybody’s got the same objective and they’re all just moving forward together.”

Pausing for chuckles, the once-embattled university leader added, “I might give a slightly different answer to that today.”

But the hall fell quiet as Summers launched into the meat of his presentation­­—­­his priorities for reform in American education.

Summers urged changes in many of the areas he focused on while president, such as socioeconomic diversity, faculty-student interaction and education in the life sciences, and also suggested that institutions commit more to “active learning.”

His warning against the “large podium, small chair” mode of teaching, which he deemed “about the worst way to convey information so that it will be remembered and acted on,” struck a chord with some Tufts students in attendance.

“I think that the active learning piece was the key,” said Tufts Student Body President Mitch Robinson. “He hit it right on the head with that.”

Some students objected that the Harvard professor’s assessment of education did not address pressures felt in other areas of the world.

“He just doesn’t take into account that in some countries you don’t have the time to know the difference between the chromosome and a genome,” said Tufts sophomore Eyal Amit. “But his seven points were very correct, especially when he was talking about active learning.”

Summers, a renowned economist andformer secretary of the Treasury, emphasized the role of incentives in changing American education.

“If there is no incentive to change curriculums, if there is no reward for educational innovation...then change will come very, very slowly,” he said.

Summers also addressed what he called “questions of values,” such as grade inflation and consistently applying high ethical standards.

“Institutions’ deeds speak louder than their words,” he said. “These do shape characters and these do shape values.”

Tufts University President Lawrence S. Bacow, who invited Summers as part of the Richard E. Snyder President’s Lecture Series, characterized boycotts by some Tufts professors as “much ado about nothing.”

“I thought it was silly and in fact it had no impact,” said Bacow, who was seriously considered for Harvard’s presidency after Summers vacated the post. “You have to understand that we’re right in the middle of midterms and spring break starts this week, so I thought we had a terrific turnout.”

“When he first started talking, I thought he was a little arrogant,” said Tufts student Courtney Morrissey. “But I was impressed with how brutally honest he was.”

Some students afterwards lauded Tufts’ commitment to bringing controversial speakers to campus.

“I think Bacow made a good decision,” said Tufts sophomore Kanupriya Kapoor. “He has a tendency to take a firm stand on things and he held his ground even though there was opposition to this speaker.”

“One of the nice things about talking to Larry is that he always gives you food for thought,” Bacow said.

—Staff writer Clifford M. Marks can be reached at cmarks@fas.harvard.edu.