However, Summers’ record relating to diversity issues is mixed, says Orfield, as Summers voiced strong support to the cause of affirmative action in higher education during the 2003 Supreme Court cases involving the University of Michigan’s admissions process.
“[Summers] did play an active role in Harvard’s brief to the Supreme Court in the Michigan case,” Orfield says. “He made a pretty passionate statement about it to the NAACP board of directors. That was a part of him that really wasn’t known very well. … [He had] become quite convinced that affirmative action was a good idea.”
Olivas says that as president, Summers wields great influence when it comes to setting the tone for diversity-related issues, and the burden to clarify Harvard’s stance on those issues will rest with his successor.
“A new president coming into Harvard, as any new president in any major university, is the leader that sets the tone and the philosophy of a direction for diversity … in terms of research, in terms of policy renewal [and] exploration,” Olivas says.
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