Harvard tiff resolved; West eases threat to return to Princeton

Though tension between Harvard University President Lawrence Summers and African-American studies professor Cornel West has eased, West's decision to stay in Cambridge has yet to be finalized.

West, who received his graduate degree from Princeton in 1980 and served as director of Princeton's Afro-America studies program, met with Summers Thursday evening after media reports that West was planning to leave Harvard for Princeton.

..."President Summers and Professor West had a good conversation that cleared the air. They ended the conversation with a feeling of mutual respect," Harvard University spokesman Joe Wrinn said in a statement.

Summers reportedly clashed with West in an October meeting when he questioned the professor's work outside of academia, which included advising Rev. Al Sharpton on his presidential campaign and recording a rap album while on medical leave.

West, who vowed not to talk to the press, voiced his grievances about the October meeting in an NPR interview conducted prior to the meeting Thursday but aired Tuesday as the inaugural edition of the Tavis Smiley Show.

West called Summers' comments "attacks on integrity" and an "a priori evaluation" of what type of person he is, claiming that the president "had not read a word [he had] written."

The fallout of the meeting took a decidedly racial tone in the media as The Boston Globe and The New York Times reported that members of Harvard's African-American studies department were displeased with Summers' statements on diversity and affirmative action.

West said "race is certainly playing a part . . . Harvard had a long way to go when [Henry Lewis] Gates" came to the university and that the 16 members of the department compared to the approximately 2,000 members of the university faculty was "a drop in the bucket."

Winn explained, "President Summers has said publicly that he regrets the misunderstanding and that he is sorry that it took place. He reiterated that to Professor West in their meeting as well."

West confirmed in his interview that if he were to leave, it would be for Princeton and that there was a good chance that some of his colleagues from the department would leave as well. He praised the "visionary leadership" of President Tilghman and said if he were to leave it would be "turning towards something that is visionary, appreciative, ennobling."

The University has declined to comment on any attempt to attract West to Princeton though he reportedly has an open offer to return.

"We have a longstanding policy on personnel issues not to discuss," appointments until "decisions have been made, and there have been no decisions made," Tilghman said.

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The University "prefers not to have [the discussion] in the public domain," Tilghman said.

The controversy over West's possible departure for Princeton also raises questions about the University's own African-American studies curriculum. Unlike Harvard's full department, Princeton has had a certificate program since 1969.

"[It's] not unreasonable that we be asking" questions about the advantages of having a department, Tilghman said.

The African-American studies program currently has seven professors in its ranks, nine fewer than Harvard's department.

"In order for a field of study to be a department we must be convinced of two things: that it is deep enough to sustain a curriculum and that there is sufficient depth in faculty to sustain a department," Tilghman said.

Building the program through new faculty and new initiatives has been a recent priority, University spokesperson Marilyn Marks said, but the status of whether the curriculum is a department or a program remains an "open question."

"No decision has been made whether we will have a department," Tilghman said. "We are progressing successfully now the past five-to-six years and we have some very distinguished faculty."