This episode in what Lucianne.com Must Reads has described as a continuing "sandbox squabble" has concluded.
The Crimson reports a summary of the action. (Not a blow-by-blow unfortunately, The well composed and delivered verbal assaults quoted in the report have left this onetime varsity debater desiring a transcript.)
In a sharp and unexpected rebuke of University President Lawrence H. Summers, members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) voted yesterday that they lack confidence in his leadership.Sandbox squabble episode details:
Voting by secret ballot in a Faculty meeting at the Loeb Drama Center, 218 faculty members affirmed a motion put on the docket by Professor of Anthropology and of African and African American Studies J. Lorand Matory ’82, stating that “the Faculty lacks confidence in the leadership of Lawrence H. Summers.” One hundred eighty-five voted against and 18 abstained from the motion, which was tantamount to a vote of no confidence.
A second motion, expressing regret for Summers’ Jan. 14 remarks on women in science and certain “aspects of the President’s managerial approach,” also passed the Faculty. [ ... ]
The two non-binding motions, unique in Harvard’s history, are largely symbolic gestures—only the Harvard Corporation, the University’s top governing body, can force Summers to step down.
While last month’s Faculty meetings focused on Summers’ adversarial leadership style and his controversial remarks on women in science, yesterday’s discussion leading up to the docketed motions focused instead on what the two votes would mean for the Faculty, and whether the votes should take place. [ ... ]
“This is not theater, albeit it has its comic and tragic elements,” Professor of the History of Science Everett I. Mendelsohn said at the meeting. [ ... ]
Like Summers, Faculty members seemed shocked by the result of the lack of confidence vote. After the meeting, professors contacted by The Crimson—including Matory—said that they did not expect the lack of confidence motion to garner so much support. [ ... ]
At the end of the meeting, which extended a half-hour beyond the allotted time, Summers made another plea for reconciliation.
“I have done my best these last two months to hear what has been said, to think hard about what has been said, and to make the appropriate adjustments, to learn from what has been said and what’s been done. And I will continue to do that,” Summers said. “My hope would be that this Faculty will now be in a position to move on to address the vital issues that it faces.” [ ... ]
But even if his job is secure, yesterday’s motions have strong, long-lasting implications for how much power Summers will have in areas of FAS governance. [ ... ]
“I think this also gives us a mandate to do more,” said Ryan, noting in particular that the Faculty Council—the 18-member governing board of the FAS, of which she is a member—will now be able to wield greater power. [ ... ]
“There is no noble alternative for him but resignation,” Matory said. [ ... ]
“It would seem unwise to detour this motion by parliamentary maneuver. It or a ghostly incarnation would come back and leave us no peace. Whether the motion passes or fails, it is important to face and not deflect it,” English and American Literature and Language Department Chair James Engell said. [ ... ]Usage Note 1: President and Crimson are, of course unqualified. This tradition goes back at least to the famous Harvard staff response to a telphone call from the White House: "Mr. Wilson is on the line for the President." [[For those in Rio Linda, "Mr. Wilson" is U.S. President Thomas Woodrow Wilson and "the President" is the President of the Hub of the Universe (the Hub being more accurately placed in Cambridge than in Boston and being readily identifiable because of the lack of linear movement and the dizziness resulting from the speed of rotation.]]
“Academic freedom is on trial, and...a victory for President Summers’ critics will be a very significant blow to academic freedom in American higher education,” said Winthrop Professor of History Stephan Thernstrom, who likened criticism of Summers to McCarthy-era tactics of suppressing free speech.
And Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature Ruth R. Wisse quoted extensively from John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, in which the 19th-century philosopher defends the freedom of speech.
But Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France and Professor of Comparative Literature Susan R. Suleiman rejected Thernstrom and Wisse’s argument that Summers’ critics were silencing free speech.
“The one thing that really pushes my buttons is when people try to paint every legitimate action as a form of political correctness. I really find that that is a blunt instrument and that is McCarthyite tactics,” she said, provoking applause from many faculty members. [ ... ]
Usage Note 2: Dis is, of course, free of quotation marks. To discriminate against dis through quotation mark ghetto-ization is an egregious outrage of the politically incorrect variety. Actually, quotation marking dis would, horror of horrors, dis dis.
Personal Message: Mother of Brilliants, this one is for you.
