For many Tufts students and faculty members, the invitation of this semester's Snyder Lecturer Lawrence Summers represents the latest debacle by an insensitive administration.
Former Harvard president Summers was far from a safe choice a year ago when he was originally slated to headline the event, due to his general infamy and more particularly, his statements concerning women in the sciences in January 2005. Currently, however, the administration is in a situation where there are no safe choices. To uninvite Summers at this point would be a powerful statement, one that may be contrary to the intrinsic aims of the Snyder Lecture Series.
Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser and President Bacow stressed in separate remarks to the Daily that they invited Summers to speak in the hope of addressing and challenging the conventional wisdom. We at Tufts must remain open to discourse, though it may come from speakers with whom we very strongly disagree.
No matter what your opinion on his now infamous statement on women may be, the upcoming Richard E. Snyder Presidential Lecture, "Rethinking Undergraduate Education," should be of interest. Despite Summers' failure to build consensus at Harvard during his tenure there, the man who took up the reigns at the nation's oldest university with the intent to implement substantial changes will have insight to share with the Tufts community.
When Summers accepted the top position at Harvard, he originally planned to expand the campus, put a new focus on undergraduate education and push for more integration within the different schools of the university. Aside from his misogynistic soundbite, however, his leadership style ultimately proved too divisive for success.
Of course Summers' hardline way of management was not the only reason he stirred up so much rancor in the academic community. His remark about women was not an isolated instance; there were already faculty members concerned about the sour relationship between Summers and then-Harvard professor Cornel West, a prominent scholar in what is now the Department of African and African American Studies. West ended up leaving his position to accept a post at Princeton. Even before Summers came to Harvard, he had a reputation of racial insensitivity due to a controversial memo during his time at the World Bank in 1991.
It is entirely understandable, then, that a number of Tufts students and faculty might feel offended by Summers' presence on the hill. Some may feel that given the current campus climate and accusations of administrative racial insensitivity, the administration should focus on ways to make minority students feel welcome at Tufts instead of bringing controversial lecturers to come speak. These two aims are not mutually exclusive, and Tufts could benefit from what Summers has to say.
Whatever he speaks about, the former Harvard president known for his insensitivity might even be able to help us understand our current racial problems at Tufts through his own negative example.
Most importantly, our willingness to be open to hearing opinions which might not mirror our own is fundamental to our academic development.
We trust in President Bacow's assertion that Summers can offer the Tufts campus a different perspective on undergraduate education. To support Summers as the Snyder lecturer is a controversial choice, but to cancel his lecture due to his notorious reputation should strike us as controversial as well.
