Word: cornell
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Summers meets with African American studies professor Cornel R. West ’74 and questions his work at Harvard, inspiring widespread criticism from faculty. West takes the story to the national media, who report that Summers reprimanded the professor for making a rap album, missing classes, and failing to produce scholarly work during his tenure at the University...
Within a year of his arrival at Harvard, however, Summers found himself in the midst of a public relations crisis, facing criticism from all sides for his loose tongue, his rough treatment of various professors, and above all, his extremely charged feud with African American Studies star Cornel R. West ’74. Factions of the faculty were in an uproar, and in reporting the unrest, the national press painted Summers as a man who simply never learned his lesson...
Despite his optimistic predictions, any initial sense of welcome Summers might have encountered at Harvard was quickly complicated by the Cornel West imbroglio, which began within four months of Summers’ installation as president. The incident cast doubt on assurances from Rubin, who as a member of the Harvard Corporation had vouched that Summers had gotten over his bad habits during the presidential search process...
Each of these caused minor eruptions in the press, receiving varying degrees of national attention, but taken together and slotted as supporting acts for the Cornel West dispute, they formed a familiar image of Summers—one he had hoped would fade in light of his efforts at self-improvement at the Treasury...
Although he was blasted for those comments, they showed an understanding of subjectivity which he hadn’t demonstrated in his well-publicized spat with Cornel West. Perhaps he saw that notorious argument as a man-to-man talk, without realizing how important West was as a role model and teacher to so many students at Harvard. And when West packed his bags, Summers’ actions were taken by many, in Harvard’s black community and beyond, as threatening—in effect if not intent...