Universities Weblog

Folks at Harvard just can't seem to accept Larry Summers and his confrontational, dictatorial leadership style. The boston globe reports that the Harvard faculty will be voting on a "no confidence" motion, calling into question Summers' handling of a decanal appointment, among other issues.

Witness:

Harvard University's president, Lawrence H. Summers, will soon face his second vote of no confidence, a concerted faculty assault on a president's leadership that has never happened before in Harvard's history.

Professor Judith Ryan, an elected member of the faculty council, said last night that she had placed the no-confidence motion on the docket for the Feb. 28 meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. At the same time, professors are debating whether to try to largely shut Summers out of the search for a new dean for arts and sciences, the university's biggest school.

Professors in the same school voted no confidence in Summers last March, but the public outcry against him abated in the fall. These new moves, early in the second semester, indicate the depth of rage against the president among some professors, and fuel speculation among faculty that he may step down or that he may be forced out by Harvard's governing board, the Corporation.As the piece suggests, Summers faced a similar vote last year and lost. But he's still there. How long will this turmoil persist?

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