Image is in the Eye

University President Lawrence H. Summers is an attention-getter. Unfortunately, one year after his arrival, it seems that it’s mostly for the wrong reasons. Summers, who has put himself out to interact with students and focus on the College—things his predecessor was severely criticized for not doing—has nevertheless failed to create a positive image among the student body. He’s put himself on the line, and for some reason, it’s not working.

It’s not that complicated a reason, actually, but it is a big problem and growing. While Summers regularly goes to the Houses and Undergraduate Council meetings, seeking out student interaction in a way that few administrators have done in recent memory, the points he’s getting for it are negated by his rather unusual personal style. Students who interact with him complain that he doesn’t make eye contact. He fidgets. These may seem like minor quibbles, but they’re indicative of a much bigger issue: Summers has brought students to the table to discuss a number of things. And they’re still not convinced that he’s listening or interested. He is failing to connect.

Students who have met with Summers in more formal situations to discuss matters of policy, like Latino studies and undergraduate education, criticize his demeanor. Latino studies advocate Luis S. Hernandez, a graduate student at the Divinity School who co-chairs Concilio Latino, told a Crimson reporter, “He wouldn’t make eye contact-that’s disrespectful.” The other student in that same meeting, Maribel Hernandez ’04, the president of RAZA (not related to Luis), described how Summers had his feet on a table as he toyed with a set of balls. “We understand that he doesn’t have to agree with us, but we don’t think he was respectful,” she told a Crimson reporter. A student present at a meeting about the Core Curriculum noted to the same reporter that the president “was gnawing at his finger, staring out the window.”

Nitpicking? Maybe so. But it’s an unnecessary hindrance, and even those willing to give him the benefit of the doubt have taken note. Ryan C. Downer ’04, a Committee on Undergraduate Education member, told a Crimson reporter that while he was glad the president initiated a meeting with students about potential reforms, “at times he seemed disengaged. His body language says a lot that maybe he doesn’t mean to be saying.” Another student present at a core meeting told a reporter, “At one point, he closed his eyes completely in what seemed to be some sort of Zen napping trance.” As a graduating senior, I have nothing but sympathy for fatigue, but the bottom line is that Summers fails to provide the basic body language students are used to seeing in those who are paying attention to them.

It’s far more of a problem than was apparent when he was selected last spring. At the time, I rejoiced to find out that students were among the first people the new president consulted. Now, months later, student criticism is an easy and constant refrain. Even his staunchest defenders would be hard-pressed to deny that Summers, earnest as he may be, just comes off badly. This gives his critics an excuse to say that he isn’t engaging them. Luis Hernandez said, “He was saying, ‘I do not need to engage in dialogue on this.’” The ubiquitous Benjamin L. McKean ’02 of the Progressive Student Labor Movement told a reporter that Summers doesn’t live up to his reputation as a rigorous questioner. “What is upsetting about his rolling his eyes and looking disinterested is that he really is disinterested,” McKean said.

But I don’t buy that for a New York minute. Even though Summers keeps making a bad impression, let’s give him credit for putting himself out there. If he doesn’t truly mean to engage students, then he’s expending an awful lot of energy—an illogical, inefficient and highly uneconomical amount, actually—in pretending. Does anyone believe that the (highly debatable) public relations benefits of such a facade are worth the breakneck pace he keeps? The only logical conclusion is that he really cares what we think. I think this engagement is terrific. I like being treated like an adult—my input is both interesting and challenge-able.

But despite his attempts to seek us out, his best efforts to demonstrate his interest in us fall miserably short. Mostly because they literally look terrible. (The man even fidgeted at his own installation, and I’d guess he was pretty interested in that.) I don’t know how much he can help it. But I would argue that it’s at the root of every major problem he’s had this year.

Maybe communication is not such an easy gift, even for the most brilliant of economists. So one of two things has to happen for Summers’ image to improve among students: either we have to get over it, or he has to change his habits. If he doesn’t surmount the communication barrier, he’s headed for a sophomore slump. If he can alter his perception on campus, perhaps we can finally begin to take advantage of our newly prominent seat at the University’s table.

Vasugi V. Ganeshananthan ’02 is an English concentrator in Lowell House. This is her final column.