"I'm not here to be loved, I'm here to be respected," President Larry Bacow told faculty members at their first meeting during his tenure. And six months after taking office, Tufts' 12th president has convinced many he's keeping his word. Taking major issues head on, Bacow has made straight talk and tough decisions the hallmark of his young administration.
In his first semester at Tufts, Bacow maneuvered through two of the University's most delicate challenges and carefully skirted a third. He brings a technocrat's eye to problems, thinking out his responses and focusing on detailed solutions.
When Bacow took office last summer, he inherited a top-heavy administrative structure that sprawled back through two Tufts presidencies. By the time former Vice President of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering Mel Bernstein resigned last year, a number of faculty and administrators criticized the system as having grown bloated and inefficient.
Unpopular among many faculty members for its inaccessibility and detachment from their departments, many at Tufts were calling for Bacow to eliminate the office of the vice president. But instead of making a decision in September, Bacow announced he would wait until October to decide whether to replace Bernstein, or abolish the post entirely.
Before making his decision, Bacow studied other schools' administrative structures. He eventually opted for a massive, University-wide restructuring that he said would save money and decrease bureaucracy. He consolidated work in the offices of fewer administrators and committees, and expanded the President's Council to include Dean of Engineering Ioannis Miaoulis and newly appointed Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Ernst. These interests were previously represented by only one seat on the Council, reserved for the vice president. Bacow said the money saved by these changes would be spent on faculty development, one of his top priorities.
"Taking away a layer of administration is always a good thing," Provost Sol Gittleman said, calling the decision one of the most important Bacow has made so far.
But some professors say that Bacow's decision was motivated by other, more subtle concerns. Prior to the reshuffling, administrators were whispering that if the office survived, Miaoulis was the top candidate for the vice presidency. This alarmed some Arts and Sciences professors, who had long grumbled that Bernstein - like Miaoulis, an engineer by training - did not fully address their concerns. By promoting Enrst and Miaoulis before eliminating the vice presidency, Bacow was able to appease both sides.
Whatever his motivations, the end result sits well with most professors. "Bernstein seemed kind of remote from the department level," math professor Boris Hasselblatt said, adding that the new structure is more department-focused than its predecessor. "To the faculty, it will be the difference between night and day."
Even before the academic year began, Bacow faced an equally serious challenge from students. Immediately upon arrival on campus for the fall semester, students attacked the University's labor practices, calling for a "living wage," and sparking a debate with the potential to grow into a years-long controversy like the one that is currently raging at Harvard.
In a series of protests, the recently formed Student Labor Action Movement joined with Tufts custodians and their union to demand better pay and benefits. Soon, they had turned an old concern into a fresh debate with a new sense of urgency.
"Trustees want to save money while many faculty and students want to pay all employees of Tufts a good salary," history professor Steven Marrone said, adding that students, faculty, and janitors have pushed for better wages and working conditions for most of the last decade with little result.
Although negotiations were technically between the custodians' union and OneSource - Tufts outside janitorial company - Bacow faced intense pressure from students and faculty to intervene in favor of the custodians.
While Harvard's "living wage" debate dragged its new President Lawrence Summers into the fray, Bacow is widely credited with helping resolve the situation quickly, and preventing the media spotlight from turning on Tufts.
"He got involved in the discussion, which was a new thing," said physics professor Gary Goldstein, who supported the movement. "In the past, the administration had avoided talking about the issues."
While Bacow made tough decisions and averted crises in both the administrative restructuring and "living wage" campaigns, he has been largely silent on issues relating to his predecessor's greatest legacy: former President DiBiaggio's University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS).
The UCCPS attracted local suspicion from the start. But DiBiaggio's national prestige in the public service arena and the high-profile donors he attracted kept it safe from harsh campus criticism.
Upon arriving at Tufts, Bacow faced a precarious situation: he could embrace the UCCPS fully, as DiBiaggio had done, or cast a more critical eye on the infant institution. Outwardly, it appears Bacow chose the middle path. He made an important calculus and offered UCCPS moderate support. Bacow has made appearances at UCCPS events and spoken highly of its goals, but has not named it as one of his top priorities for the University's development.
"He makes his decisions very carefully," DiBiaggio said of Bacow. "What I respect and admire about him is that he recognizes that there have been many achievements here over the years and he's not going to tear the University apart."
While it appears that Bacow will not dismantle DiBiaggio's legacy, some see Bacow as a strong force for change in other areas of the University.
"I personally think he'll be very good for Tufts, and will bring us back to the dynamism characteristic of the University in the 1980s and began to fade a bit toward the end of the 1990s," Marrone said.
The 1980s saw great change for Tufts, as then-President Jean Mayer elevated the University to Research I status, creating the vet school and building a world-renowned nutrition school. DiBiaggio's tenure was more moderate, characterized by fiscal responsibility and an era of unprecedented fundraising. Now, some see a return to
the aggressive growth Tufts saw under Mayer. Marrone, who serves on the prestigious tenure and promotions committee, sees new hope in Bacow.
He believes the new president will draw out pent-up energies that have resided at the University for years. "A reservoir of good will and energy lay ready to be tapped," Marrone said.
And with another confrontation on his doorstep as graduate students attempt to unionize, Bacow's political capital at the University remains strong. In December, Tufts' teaching and research assistants filed a petition with the federal government requesting union representation. Though campus opinions on the initiative vary widely, Bacow moved to the forefront of the debate and strongly opposed a unionization attempt.
Even his detractors concede that Bacow's decision was carefully formed. Despite his disagreement with the president's decision, Electrical engineering professor Robert Gonsalves said the choice is an example of Bacow's strong leadership.
Students and faculty alike were also impressed with Bacow's handling of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The president decided not to cancel classes, but worked hard to create time for community discussion. He was seen walking around campus all morning, talking with students who had gathered in front of televisions to watch the events unfold. Looking to the future, many believe that Bacow's search for a provost to replace Gittleman, who steps down in June, will be among the most important decisions of the semester.
Gittleman has been one of Bacow's biggest supporters since his arrival in August. "I love him. He's my best dream come true," Gittleman said of the president. Bacow has chosen to make the provost search a closed process, maintaining that he alone will make the final decision.
Hasselblatt recognizes the importance of choosing a second-in-command, and said he is confident the president will make a prudent selection. "The record that Bacow has so far is cause for optimism," he said.
Some say Bacow's greatest asset may be his attention to detail. He started at Tufts by making a concerted effort to learn learning everything he could about the University, listening to what people had to say and studying it as though he were a student. Even before beginning his tenure, Bacow's grasp of the school's history and achievements impressed seasoned faculty and alumni at the sesquicentennial flag raising ceremony in August.
"What impressed me about Bacow is that he's a fast learner," Hasselblatt said. "He really embraced the institution from day one."
Gil Metcalf, who served on the committee that hired Bacow, has not been disappointed. "We expected a really energetic president, and we got one," Metcalf said.
