Universities Weblog

Harvard President Lawrence Summers told an academic audience last week that "innate differences" may account for the lack of women in math and sciences. Summers said his comments were based on scholarly research that requires more investigation.

Promising to be provocative, Summers evidently pushed some sensitive buttons. One leading female scholar from MIT walked out during his talk and appeared this morning on the "Today Show" to express her disapproval. Summers declined to be interviewed but released a statement saying he did not mean to imply that men and women have different innate abilities in this respect.

Summers has built a reputation for controversial statements and bold stances. Will his presidency continue to survive such public censure? Is this kind of publicity good or bad for Harvard?

In any case, it's funny how the higher education community implores university presidents to take a stand on issues and then criticizes them when they speak their minds.

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