Grad Students Vote On Summers

The faculty have spoken, but now students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) have a chance to weigh in on President Lawrence H. Summers’ leadership of the University as well.

Beginning today, GSAS students can vote anonymously on the same issues that resulted in a “lack of confidence” vote in Summers at last Tuesday’s meeting of professors from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

The GSAS poll marks the first time Harvard students have been offered an official avenue to vote on Summers’ management style.

Zoe F. Trodd, president of the Graduate School Council (GSC), said the council planned the voting effort to publicize Harvard graduate student sentiment to the faculty and the media.

“It’s not just a faculty issue—it’s our campus, too,” said Trodd. “There are other voices on campus.”

But while the GSAS vote may lack the fanfare of last week’s Faculty meeting, the motions outlined in the poll were taken verbatim from the motions put on last Tuesday’s meeting agenda. The poll asks students whether they “lack confidence” in Summers and secondly, whether his remarks on women in science were regrettable.

Trodd said the GSC’s initiative is meant as a student version of the Faculty meeting.

“I think [the GSAS vote] is as unprecedented as the faculty vote,” Trodd said. “Obviously if the faculty hadn’t been voting, the Graduate Student Council would not be organizing an effort.”

Brant E. Robertson, a fourth-year astronomy graduate student and also an at-large member of the GSC, said that many of his fellow students have been seeking a forum to voice their opinions.

“Since [Summers’] comments were made—at least in the natural sciences—friends and acquaintances have made very clear to me that they feel that they haven’t had a chance to let professors know how they feel about the issue,” Robertson said.

Trodd said that after hearing support from GSAS students, deans, and professors, the GSC decided to offer students the chance to vote on the issue. They settled on an online format for the poll to address concerns about security and anonymity.

First-year GSAS student Danielle J. De Feo said that she thinks the opportunity is an important gauge of student opinion.

“I believe in democracy and I think that it’s important that we all exercise our vote because the graduate students have to show that they care,” she said.

But graduate student Timothy D. Baker wrote in an e-mail that he thought the voting would oversimplify the issue.

“It is not a black-and-white issue and it is not an issue that can be decided by a simple vote,” Baker wrote. “To have votes and polls such as this does not foster a real consideration of the issues.”

Trodd added that while she predicts that students will be divided on the issue, she thinks the poll will serve an important function.

“Regardless of the result, it’s a barometer that’s quite important at this moment,” she said.

The poll opened at 7 a.m. today and closes at 5 p.m. tomorrow. The results will be made public tomorrow evening.

—Staff writer Javier C. Hernandez can be reached at jhernand@fas.harvard.edu.