Students Upset As Professors Depart

As the exodus of Harvard faculty to the Obama administration garners national attention, some students at the Harvard Kennedy School are lamenting the negative effects the appointments have had on their academic experience.

The departure of four prominent Kennedy School professors—John P. Holdren, Jeffrey B. Liebman, Lawrence H. Summers, and Samantha Power—resulted in the cancellation of three spring term classes.

The trimming of the course list has disappointed many students, according to student government President Benjamin M. Polk, who said that some students are now being forced to take their third and fourth-choice classes.

Polk said Kennedy School administrators did not officially notify students of professors’ departures, leaving students to find out through the news media.

“Some of the frustration students feel is that there’s zero communication from the administration,” he said.

According to Timothy P. McCarthy ’93, who lectures on public policy at the Kennedy School, students have expressed frustration over the fact that some of the courses were cancelled on the first day of shopping period.

“The administration waited a long time to announce that people were leaving,” he said, adding that he knew about many professors’ departures before students did.

Due to the cancellation of Summers’ class, “The Contents of Globalization: Issues, Actors, and Decisions,” only one International Trade and Finance class is being offered this term, posing a challenge for some ITF concentrators.

The Kennedy School administration has presented a more sanguine view on the situation, stressing the benefits professors will reap from experience in Washington.

“For us it’s exciting that we have the caliber of faculty that a new administration would turn to and call on,” said Melodie L. Jackson, associate dean for communications and public affairs. “In the grand scheme of things, having faculty moving in and out of government is a good thing for us.”

Jackson said the Kennedy School is trying to fill the void by reassigning the workload among remaining faculty or bringing in high-level visiting professors.

Kennedy School Professor of Government Graham T. Allison ’62 noted that the school is also attracting people leaving the Bush administration, including Meghan L. O’Sullivan, a former deputy national security adviser, and R. Nicholas Burns, former undersecretary of state for political affairs.

Polk suggested the Kennedy School’s administration accelerate the searches that are currently underway for high-level faculty positions.

“The student body would have liked it if the administration had worked to bring in some rock star professors to replace the rock star professors that have left,” he said.

—Staff writer Niha S. Jain can be reached at nsjain@fas.harvard.edu.