Summers Releases Harper's Letter

Angered by University President Lawrence H. Summers’ comments on women and minorities, Conrad K. Harper ultimately resigned from the Harvard Corporation last month after a dispute over Summers’ salary, according to a letter from Harper to Summers released by the president Monday.

The letter, which the University had previously said would not be made public, reveals that Harper called on Summers to step down two days after the no-confidence vote by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in March. “I believe that Harvard’s best interests require your resignation,” Harper concluded in his letter to Summers on July 14.

Harper, the only African-American ever to serve on the Corporation, wrote that he was compelled to resign following a disagreement with James R. Houghton ’56, senior fellow of the Corporation, over a three-percent increase in Summers’ salary. Harper objected to the raise and said Houghton had not allowed for adequate discussion among the board members.

“In my judgment, your 2004-05 conduct, implicating, as it does, profound issues of temperament and judgment, merits no increase whatsoever,” Harper wrote to Summers.

The letter’s release came as two of Harvard’s most prominent black professors—African and African American Studies Department Chair Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. and Climenko Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree—and a collection of their colleagues were preparing to issue a statement Monday calling on Summers to release the letter, several faculty members said.

Harper, in an interview Monday, said he had no objection to the letter being made public but said it was up to Harvard to release it. Spokesmen for the University had said as early as this morning that the letter would not be released.

The letter reveals that though Harper’s resignation was only made public on July 28, he had officially resigned on July 14. Summers’ reply and Houghton’s statement are both dated August 1.

Harper wrote that he “saw a pattern” in Summers’ public remarks on women and minorities, citing his 2002 feud with former Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West ’74, his comments at a Native American conference in September 2004, and his now infamous remarks on women in science in January 2005.

“Your statements demeaned those who are underrepresented at the top levels of major research universities,” Harper wrote.

Harper described the issue of Summers’ salary as the breaking point in his relationship with the seven-member Corporation. Houghton, according to Harper, did not want to further discuss the matter at the board’s retreat last month.

“I believe that plenary meetings are uniquely important for the wise administration of our affairs,” Harper wrote. “I cannot in good conscience remain a member of the Corporation when the procedures that should guide our deliberations are not followed.”

Houghton, in a statement released Monday, said the Corporation had decided to raise Summers’ salary by three percent “after weighing both the difficulties of the past year and President Summers’s broader efforts and contributions.”

Summers made $522,714 in salary in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004, a 4.5 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, according to documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service. He received an 11.1 percent raise in salary after his first fiscal year as president.

Monday’s release of Harper’s letter mirrored Summers’ about-face in February, when he released a transcript of his remarks on women in science amid mounting faculty pressure to do so. This time around, however, Summers preempted much public outcry and a potentially explosive public-relations battle by making the letter public before Gates, Ogletree, and other professors formally called for it.

“Those of us concerned with Conrad Harper’s honor and the integrity of the University are really pleased that the University has reached this decision,” Gates said in an interview this afternoon. “We feel that we have won without firing a shot.”

In a letter replying to Harper Monday, Summers wrote that he remained committed to “expanding opportunities for outstanding individuals from groups that are traditionally underrepresented.”

“I also hope that, in time and with attention to the concerns raised this past semester, we will succeed in achieving an improved relationship between the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the central administration,” Summers wrote.

Harper’s resignation exposed a rare public fissure in the highly secretive Corporation, of which Summers is himself a member. Two individuals close to the Corporation said Harper had long been the board’s sole dissenter, having opposed Summers’ selection as president in the first place.

Harper’s relationship with Summers deteriorated following the president’s public spat with West, whom Harper felt had been unfairly targeted by Summers.

“I had hoped that the unfortunate incident with Professor Cornel West was an abberation,” Harper wrote in his letter to Summers.

In an interview this afternoon, West said he concurred with the tone of Harper’s letter and his call on Summers to resign.

“This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” West said. “It should be clear that Summers’ pattern of behavior is that of a sociopath with deep racist and sexist sensibilities. And I just hate to see my beloved Harvard so damaged by Brother Summers’ behavior.”

—Staff writer Zachary M. Seward can be reached at seward@fas.harvard.edu.