One More Reason To Be Proud of Being a Villanova Alum
Okay, I think Harvard can cancel the idea of calling me for alumni donations...
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences passed a no-confidence vote against President Lawrence Summers on Tuesday, the latest setback for the embattled university leader who has come under fire for his managerial style and comments on women in science.Summers is no raging conservative, for those who don't know -- he's the former Treasury Secretary to William Jefferson Clinton, for crying out loud (well, Bill is a Yalie -- maybe that's why they're ticked). But of course, he's in trouble for making comments that have offended the sensibilities of the faculty members last month and before by actually challenging their preconceived ideas about certain things. God forbid someone do that at a university.
The vote, 218-185, was largely symbolic. The faculty group is one of 10 that comprise the university, and Summers reports to the Harvard Corporation, the university's governing board, which has expressed its support for him.
The unexpected passage of the vote was nonetheless a significant setback to Summers' efforts to rebuild his standing with Harvard's faculty in the wake of the uproar over his comments about women in science at an academic conference in January.
The measure stated simply: "The Faculty lacks confidence in the leadership of Lawrence H. Summers."
...J. Lorand Matory, the anthropology professor who introduced the measure, called on Summers to resign.
"There is no noble alternative to resignation," he said.
Look, I'm only a graduate of the law school, but I'm embarrassed by the undergraduate faculty here. Then again, I'm not really surprised. Powerline sums it up nicely:
Let us now recall the words of the great Willliam F. Buckley Jr.: "I would rather be governed by the first 200 names in the Boston phone book, than by the Harvard faculty." The wisdom of Buckley's statement is proving timeless.Damn straight. Oops, better watch my language -- the Harvard faculty might lose confidence in me.
posted by Raje at 8:36 PM
6 Comments:
Hello!
I was sitting there (ass. professor of physics), and I share your feelings completely.
Initially I was just sad and passive, crying very slightly, but now I am returning to the reaction that is more appropriate - anger and fighting mood. ;-)
See the text on my physics blog A sad day for Harvard.
All the best
Lubos
I was referred to your excellent discussion of the Summers controversy on your blog. I am also a Harvard Law School alum. I have a question for you. I see that you refer to the idea of withholding donations to Harvard. Doesn't that make things worse - because donations will have gone down on Summers' watch? Or do you regard this as a useful idea? Alternatively, are there non-PC departments or schools within Harvard to which donors could direct their contributions, as a way of demonstrating that we are prepared to support sanity at Harvard, but not what is going on?
TMF
I think withholding alumni donations is an excellent idea - that is what I plan to do. Next donation request I get I'm sending a reply telling them to call J. Lo Matory for contributions.
First of all, many thanks to Lubos for linking to this thread and to my blog. It's even more heartening to see a mature, reasoned voice speak openly about this ridiculous decision. And thank you to all of you who have read this blog -- I'm honored that people would take the time to read my ramblings.
I had not considered the possibility that a drop in donations would fundamentally hurt Summers, as raised by my fellow HLS alum. But in thinking about it some more, I tend to think that Summers might benefit if the alumni make clear their reasons for declining to contribute. I worked on the phone bank in law school, calling alumni for $10 an hour, and people were not shy in telling us the reasons that they refused to give money to the law school.
In the end, the key will not be smallfry contributors, but the deep pockets alumni who regularly and faithfully give money every year without much in the way of comment. If prominent well-heeled alumni make their displeasure known, and known publicly, it will have a positive impact.
there is a conservative students' club on most colleges. Does Harvard have one? Is it reasonably well governed? Does it need money? Will it help the overall situation to have more students aware of such a club? It would be involved in things like the affirmative action bake sale, a conservative speakers' forum, the ROTC,etc.
Harvard does have a conservative newspaper: The Harvard Salient. Two of Harvard's great professors, Ruth Wisse and Harvey C. Mansfield, are its advisors. I was on the staff for a few years. It was constantly struggling to stay afloat financially.
Here's a link:
http://hcs.harvard.edu/~salient/
Cheerio
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