Harvard prof Gates says no to Princeton

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates will stay at Harvard University, he said yesterday, ending Princeton's yearlong drive to hire African-American studies stars from Harvard. But Cornel West GS '80 and K. Anthony Appiah, two of those professors hired last year, said this week Gates may still be interested in Princeton.

"I think his heart is at Princeton," West said in an interview on Monday, before the announcement. "But it's a question of when."

Gates, who is head of Harvard's Afro-American studies department, said in a statement announcing his decision that he wanted to rebuild the department after last year's highly publicized losses of West and Appiah. He turned down "an extremely appealing opportunity" to help build African-American studies at Princeton, he said, and praised President Tilghman and Provost Amy Gutmann. He did not specify how long he plans to stay at Harvard.

The decision signals a defeat for Princeton, which has had an offer out to Gates for a year. Gutmann said in an interview yesterday that she was disappointed Gates did not accept the offer, but that she completely understood his decision.

"We knew this wasn't an easy decision," she said. "It could not possibly be. He has deep roots at Harvard."

Though the official offer to Gates is over, Gutmann said, Princeton will still welcome him. Part of the offer, according to West and Appiah, may have included building a Princeton African-American studies research center. Gutmann would not comment on the contents of the offer.

In an interview yesterday, Appiah described some of the thinking behind Gates' decision. Gates has been Afro-American studies chair for 11 years, longer than most chairs. He probably does not want to stay in this position much longer, Appiah said, and may spend much of his time planting new foundations for the department.

During Thanksgiving, Appiah said, Gates talked the proposal over with his family and decided to stay.

"The department has been through difficult times at Harvard, and he didn't want to disturb it further," Appiah said. "From a personal point of view, that's sad." However, Appiah said he and his "best friend" still may be reunited. "I'm sure we'll keep trying to persuade him to come," he said. "And I'm sure we'll succeed."

One reason for West leaving Harvard was his personal disagreements with Harvard president Lawrence Summers. This time, Summers tried hard to keep Gates.

"The important issues surrounding the African-American experience deserve Harvard's fullest attention," Summers said yesterday in a statement.

"'Skip' brings unsurpassed commitment, energy and creativity to these critical questions," he continued, "and we are very pleased that he will continue his significant work here at Harvard."

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Despite the decision, Princeton will continue to build on its strong African-American studies program, Gutmann said. She said there are no immediate plans to convert the program into a department that can award degrees.

Stanford University higher education professor Anthony Antonio noted in an interview that Gates' decision to stay emphasizes that top universities must try to create new talents.

"When you have two prestigious universities or a small number of prestigious universities fighting over certainly very talented people," he said, "I think it says more about our need to develop those talents."

"We frequently lose sight of the issue," he added, "when paying attention to the recruitment of faculty stars."