-Caveat Lector- <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/10/opinion/10LEE.html> March 10, 2001 An Empty Chair at Harvard By RICHARD S. LEE CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Among undergraduates at Harvard University, the air is full of anticipation. The lead singer of the pop band U2 will be addressing the graduating class this June. Both varsity ice hockey teams are in the playoffs, spring break is just around the corner and the local pizzeria recently added chicken wings to its late-night menu. Of milder interest: Harvard is poised to name a new president to replace current president Neil L. Rudenstine, who has held the post for the past 10 years. The highly secretive, seven-month search has drawn national attention. Since Harvard is the nation's oldest institution of higher learning, the changing of the guard here carries a certain symbolic significance. But Harvard's own undergraduates have followed the story with detachment. The student population on the whole has had little to say about the search process or the qualities desired in a university president. The news media went wild when it was revealed last October that former president Bill Clinton might be in the running, but students were remarkably indifferent. Such apathy is easily explained: The university president is not someone students normally associate with undergraduate education. The academic experiences of Harvard undergraduates, like those of students at most other schools, are largely governed by committees, deans, professors, teaching assistants, tutors and advisers. The school's president is just the guy who shakes your hand during freshman orientation. This is not how it used to be. In fact, the Harvard president used to play a highly visible role in shaping undergraduate education, both on his own campus and nationally. When Charles W. Eliot revamped the undergraduate curriculum toward the end of the 19th century and challenged accepted norms of classical education, he commanded the attention of an entire nation. To millions he was known as First Citizen of the Republic, a title bestowed upon him by President Theodore Roosevelt. A. Lawrence Lowell, who succeeded Eliot in 1909, wrote a seminal treatise defending academic freedom and inquiry that set a standard for American higher education. And under Derek Bok, the university adopted a core curriculum in 1978 that received national attention for its radical departure from traditional methods of undergraduate instruction. But the role of the university president has changed as the demands of administration and fund-raising have increased. It's also more common for a president to advance an educational agenda through subtler means. Delegation is favored over declaration. The vision of a president thundering righteously from his bully pulpit has been replaced by the image of a bureaucrat making phone calls and writing letters. The lack of strong, visible leadership that galvanizes opinion and champions innovation has made our nation's colleges, Harvard included, complacent. A 1998 report by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching found that undergraduates are being shortchanged at many of the nation's top research universities. Here at Harvard, students, faculty and administrators alike have expressed discontent with aspects of undergraduate education. Some have bemoaned inadequate academic mentoring; others have criticized a tenure process that underemphasizes teaching ability. Students regularly gripe about constrictive graduation requirements and incompetent teaching assistants. But there has been little improvement on these fronts. Reinvigorating undergraduate education will require a drastic revision of what the Harvard presidency has become. Certainly, Harvard needs someone who can succeed in fund-raising and running an enormous corporate enterprise. But for students here, the presidency has to mean more than someone who sits in the big house and begs for money. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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