Kirby Remains Silent on Summers

Though his faculty is in turmoil, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) William C. Kirby has yet to issue any statement of his views on the current controversy centering on many professors’ discontent with University President Lawrence H. Summers’ leadership of Harvard.

In an interview last Friday, Kirby declined to comment on the debate that occurred at last Tuesday’s meeting.

“We’re in the middle of a Faculty meeting, and it would be inappropriate for me to comment to the press in the middle of a meeting,” Kirby said, referring to the fact that today’s meeting is a continuation of last week’s meeting.

Kirby said he will talk to The Crimson after today’s meeting, provided it is not once again adjourned to a later date.

Kirby did not address the issues surrounding Summers at last Tuesday’s meeting, though he did outline six steps FAS will undertake in order to increase its gender diversity.

“At the end of the day, we must recognize that this is our collective responsibility,” Kirby said.

Professors said they do not find it inappropriate that Kirby has not yet commented publicly.

“I think he is quite correct in not making comments at this point,” said Weary Professor of German and Comparative Literature Judith Ryan. “If he were to comment now, he would be commenting on one array of speeches, but they may not be totally representative [of the entire faculty].”

Ryan said today’s meeting will allow the Faculty to understand what a wider range of professors think.

Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France and Professor of Comparative Literature Susan R. Suleiman also said it was appropriate for Kirby to refrain from commenting for now.

“I think he’s in a difficult position,” she said. “He’s a member of the Faculty and he’s also an administrator.”

Suleiman said that she does not feel that criticism directed at Summers should also be interpreted as attacks on Kirby.

Ryan said that Kirby will not receive as much criticism as Summers because he has not made the kind of provocative comments regarding women and minorities that have led to Summers’ largest controversies.

However, she did say that he is part of the “top-down management system” that has characterized Harvard’s administration since Summers took over as President and appointed Kirby as Dean of FAS. (Please see story, page A8.)

But another senior professor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Summers’ hands-on approach to administration has impinged on Kirby’s ability to push his own initiatives.

“My sense is that people see Kirby as at times being overwhlemed by the President...that his own initiative has been severely limited. Kirby from early on was not given room for independent development of ideas,” the professor said.

“A lot of Faculty see Kirby as really being boxed in by the President, who has strong ideas and interests in many areas that cut right across the boundaries that would normally be the Dean’s area,” the professor said.

—Staff writer William C. Marra can be reached at wmarra@fas.harvard.edu.