Summers Speaks at HLS

University President Lawrence H. Summers opined about whether a university president can be an “intellectual provocateur” and the U.S.'s economic competitiveness before a crowd of 80 law students yesterday.

In a relaxed open-forum at Harvard Law School’s Austin Hall, Summers was introduced by Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz, who jokingly said that Summers was much like him, being “shy, unopinionated, diffident, [and] someone who gets along well with others.”

Dershowitz also posed the first question of the night, asking if “an intellectual provocateur could be a successful university president.”

Summers, uncharacteristically tie-less and without an aide in sight, declined to speak from behind the lectern, instead sitting down on the table at the center of the lecture hall. He said that while he didn’t have an answer to Dershowitz’s question, he had learned that “not every position benefits from its occupant speaking freely and openly.”

For example, he said, a person serving as U.S. treasury secretary would not be successful if he or she frequently made off-the-cuff remarks. So during his time at the Treasury, he had largely confined his comments to the importance of a strong dollar and the independence of the Federal Reserve.

“It’s not because I had no other thoughts on these matters,” he said. Alluding probably to embattled Treasury Secretary John Snow, he added: “After all, the market responds to people in that position who have no thoughts at all—as perhaps has been demonstrated in recent years.”

Throughout, the law students’ questions reflected a greater interest in Summers’ opinions on policy than in discussing the circumstances surrounding his resignation.

Several asked about the paper, published by outgoing Kennedy School of Government Academic Dean Stephen M. Walt and the University of Chicago’s John J. Mearsheimer, arguing that a pro-Israel lobby controls U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.

Summers said that it would be inappropriate for a university president to comment on professors’ research, while adding that universities must protect academic freedom and that professors should be open to criticism. When asked by Dershowitz if professors should be compelled to debate their critics, Summers said that part of “the principle of academic freedom is the right to remain silent.”

With regard to concern over American economic competitiveness, Summers said that such fears were often “overblown.” Though China graduates eight times as many engineers as the U.S., he said, “most of those graduates couldn’t get a job here if they wanted.”

He did, however, warn about complacency, saying that “what we can’t afford to do is be incompetent,” and cited Walt’s argument that power rests on legitimacy and legitimacy rests on competence.

When asked directly about his resignation near the end of the session, Summers said that the Faculty “had refused to meet him halfway,” and that the divisions were simply too deep to be bridged.

“I have no regrets about the decision that I made,” he said.

—Staff writer Paras D. Bhayani can be reached at pbhayani@fas.harvard.edu.