Provost will help lead efforts for diversity

Last month’s eruption of controversy between University President Lawrence H. Summers and the Afro-American Studies Department fueled speculation—from dining hall conversations to articles in national newspapers—about Summers’ commitment to diversity.

A discussion between Summers and Fletcher University Professor Cornel West ’71 sparked the conflict, leading prominent members of Harvard’s department and national figures such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson to publicly criticize Summers for his tepid support of affirmative action.

After intense media scrutiny, Summers issued a public statement pledging his strong support for diversity, and members of the Afro-American Studies Department soon said the dispute had been smoothed over.

Now, Afro-American Studies Department Chair Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. says he is “firmly convinced” that when Summers says he is committed to diversity, he means it.

But as Summers continues to define his agenda as the University’s 27th President, the importance of diversity among his many ambitious priorities remains to be seen.

The Provost’s Role

As the controversy with the Afro-American Studies department snowballed into a media circus, the public eye focused on Summers.

Within the University, however, top administrators often mention Provost Steven E. Hyman in discussions about diversity.

On Oct. 29, Summers announced his selection of Hyman as provost, touting the importance of a seamless partnership between Harvard’s top two administrative posts.

And promoting diversity, Hyman says, is an important priority that he and Summers share.

Summers’ comments on diversity have generally consisted of broad statements praising diversity both in academia and in society at large.

“Diversity is essential because there is so much as a society that we need to do to find every possible source of excellence,” Summers says.

But when Hyman discusses diversity, ideas for specific changes at Harvard accompany the more general observations.

Though the Office of the Provost does not have an official mandate to deal with diversity, Hyman says he plans to “ensure that we are doing everything we should with respect to recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty.”

Though he says he is still learning the inner workings of Harvard after only eight weeks on the job, Hyman has already begun to discuss strengthening the recruitment and retention of female faculty with Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study Dean Drew Gilpin Faust.

As part of what he describes as his “learning process,” Hyman observed Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzimmons ’67 and his colleagues sift through applications for several hours last week.

“I came away extremely pleased at the diversity of the applicant pool and at the way in which the staff carefully views all aspects of a prospective student—with no recourse to reductive formulas,” Hyman said.

And Assistant to the President James S. Hoyte ’65, who has been in charge of overseeing the University’s affirmative action program since 1993, notes that Hyman has “expressed a strong interest in seeing the tradition of support for diversity continue.”

A Legacy of Advocacy

In recent history, diversity has played a major role in Harvard presidential policies.

Though it was only briefly mentioned in his 1991 installation address, diversity became a top priority for Neil L. Rudenstine, Summers’ predecessor.

Even before he officially began his Harvard tenure, Rudenstine worked with Gates to draw pre-eminent scholars to Harvard and build the Afro-American studies department.

Gates describes Rudenstine’s role as crucial, not only in developing the department, but also in attracting minority students to Harvard.

“The yield of black students went up dramatically after they started building the Afro-American Studies department,” he says.

And diversity was one of the few topics regularly addressed by Rudenstine from his often silent presidential pulpit.

In response to the 1996 ruling of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case Hopwood v. Texas, which forbid the University of Texas from using race as a factor in law school admissions, Rudenstine issued a statement to the University community.

“Race has historically been, and still remains, a significant factor...that helps shape the outlooks, experiences, and opportunities of millions of people,” he wrote.

Hoyte credits the leadership of Rudenstine and former Provost Harvey V. Fineberg ’67 with the development of “stronger and more substantive” diversity initiatives in the University employment policies.

“There was a significant investment by many of the schools and departments around the University to try to make Harvard a community that truly welcomes and supports diversity,” he says.

Rudenstine himself considered advancing diversity at Harvard one of his proudest accomplishments. A collection of Rudenstine’s comments on diversity serves as the opening section of Pointing Our Thoughts, an anthology published last year of his speeches as Harvard president.

Fundamental Commitments

At least part of the difference between the approach of Rudenstine and Summers to diversity may be more style than of substance.

Rudenstine’s approach to leadership tended to avoid controversy. Summers, in contrast, takes nothing for granted.

Summers maintains that it is important “to make every aspect of our policies better, stronger, and more effective.”

But even so, Summers says Harvard’s fundamental commitment to diversity is something that should not be questioned.

“[Diversity] is essential if we’re to carry out our mission of excellence in teaching and scholarship,” he says.

Nor has Summers made any actions to change Harvard’s official policies on diversity.

“I’m certainly very comfortable with these practices [of diversity in admissions] and have made no move to alter them,” Summers says.

And prominent advocates of diversity at Harvard appreciate such an underlying belief.

“The president of Harvard has a tremendously powerful bully pulpit, and the symbolic power of his opinion is incalculable, so it’s important that he is identified with this policy [of diversity],” Gates says.

—Kate L. Rakoczy contributed to the reporting of this story.

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