On this page, I'm going to play with the controversies section of the Larry Summers article.
Controversies
editSummers' career, and in particular his tenure as President of Harvard, have been marked with no small amount of controversy.
- In December 1991, Summers signed a memo written by economist Lant Pritchett [1], which argued that polluition from First World countries should be dumped into the Third World. Summers called the memo "an ironic aside" [2], a "sardonic counterpoint, an effort to sharpen the analysis"[3]. It generated a large amount of public criticism when it was discovered. [4].
- In the fall of 2001, Summers criticized then-Harvard African-American Studies professor Cornel West, accusing him of neglecting serious scholarship and contributing to grade inflation.[1] As a result of the conflict, West left Harvard for Princeton University. [2]
- In 2002, Summers stated that a campaign by Harvard and MIT faculty to have their universities divest from companies with Israeli holdings was part of a larger trend among left-leaning academics that is "anti-Semitic in effect, if not in intent."[3]
- In January 2005, Summers gave a speech [5] at an economics conference in which he discussed possible reasons for the apparently low representation of women at the top in many fields, especially in science and engineering. One possible explanation, he suggested, might hinge on "issues of instrinsic aptitude" - that is, innate differences between men and women. His remarks generated a huge slew of criticism and discussion, at Harvard and in the media at large. [4] For further discussion of this issue, see sex and intelligence.
- On March 15, 2005, members of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which instructs graduate students in GSAS and undergraduates in Harvard College, passed 218-185 a motion of "lack of confidence" in the leadership of Summers, with 18 abstentions. A second motion that offered a milder censure of the president passed 253 to 137, also with 18 abstentions. [5]
- In July 2005, the only African-American member of the Harvard Corporation, Conrad K. Harper, resigned, citing the 2001 "unfortunate incident" with Cornel West, comments at a fall 2004 Native American conference, and the January 2005 remarks on women in science. He called on Summers to resign.[6]
(more sources below, and the <references/> tag)
- a pretty good, long summary of the whole saga: How Larry Got His Rep, a March 2005 story from The Harvard Crimson.
- ^ Larry V. Hedges; Amy Nowell (1995). "Sex Differences in Mental Test Scores, Variability, and Numbers of High-Scoring Individuals". Science. 269: 41–45.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ PSYCHOANALYSIS Q-and-A: Steven Pinker January 15, 2005.
- ^ Under Attack, Summers Vows To Compete To Keep Afro-American Studies Faculty January 2, 2002, The Harvard Crimson.
- ^ West To Depart Harvard, Join Princeton in Fall April 15, 2002, The Harvard Crimson.
- ^ Summers Says Anti-Semitism Lurks Locally September 21, 2002, The Harvard Crimson.
- ^ Summers Remarks on Women Draw Fire January 17, 2005, The Boston Globe
- ^ LACK OF CONFIDENCE March 15, 2005, The Harvard Crimson
- ^ Conrad Harper's resignation letter, 2005