Summers Plots Course in Wake of Tragedy

In his first campus press conference yesterday, President Lawrence H. Summers defended the University’s acceptance of scholarship donations from the bin Laden family.

The Islamic culture scholarships bearing the bin Laden name have come under fire following the attacks on the World Trade Center, as Osama bin Laden is the prime suspect.

But while the donations come from people who share bin Laden’s name and blood, they do not share his affiliation with terrorist organizations.

“I can understand why questions should be raised,” Summers said. “We have looked very carefully at the support [the University has] received.”

In fact, Summers said, some of the funds were given to Harvard after the Gulf War to foster cooperation between the Middle East and the U.S.

Summers stressed the importance of ensuring the legitimacy of all financial contributions to Harvard.

“It’s very, very important that the University be a moral institution in the way it carries on and finances its activies,” he said.

The questions at Summers’ first open chat with the press reflected the unusual tenor the beginning of his term has taken since Sept. 11. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon set the tone of his opening days before classes even began.

“It’s been an odd time for me the last few weeks,” Summers said. “The events of Sept. 11 served to create a very different environment...the opposite of an exhilarating time.”

At the same time of year when his predecessors spoke of the coming days of the fall semester, Summers addressed students and faculty at a vigil on the steps of Memorial Church.

Several days later, he penned a letter to the Harvard community discussing the need for tolerance, and pledging $1 million to a scholarship fund for victims’ families.

As Summers steps up to lead the University through a time of tragedy, some of his plans have been “diverted a bit”—including the searches for a new provost and a new vice president for government and community affairs.

Still, Summers said that he was “making good progress” with the searches, and that he remained open to comments from the community at large.

“My e-mail address is widely known and my door is open for those who want to weigh in,” he said.

But Summers isn’t just sitting in his office, waiting for students to come to him. He’s going out to meet them—part of a push to focus on students and the College. Since the school year began, Summers has met with over a dozen student groups, from the Business Leadership Council to the University Band.

“I’m trying to meet with a lot of students, hear what’s on students’ minds and get a senses of the variety of students’ perspectives,” he said.

Summers’ first open office hours—today from 4-5 p.m. in Mass. Hall—were aggressively publicized in House newsletters and campus-wide e-mails earlier this week.

Summers remained generally hesitant to go into detail about any specific plans for the University, preferring to reiterate his broader goals of promoting undergraduate education, “extending the University’s reach” through technology, improving the science programs, and—consistent with the other presidential administration he was once a part of—“planning for Harvard in the 21st century.”

—Staff writer David H. Gellis contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at shoichet@fas.harvard.edu.