10 Questions For Larry Summers

By John Cloud; Larry Summers Sunday, May 02, 2004
    • In 2001 Larry Summers was named Harvard President, a job possibly more prestigious and political than his gig as Bill Clinton's Treasury Secretary. After bruising some Harvard egos with his acerbity, he has launched a $2 million student-aid plan that might help soften his image. TIME's John Cloud spoke with Summers about changes at Harvard and other matters beyond the Ivy League halls.

    HARVARD JUST ANNOUNCED A CHANGE IN ITS CURRICULUM. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE CURRENT ONE? We want to emphasize the need for science education and international experience. You know, there was a Congressman who was asked whether he would be going abroad during the congressional recess, and he responded, No, he'd already been there. We want to inculcate the opposite of that attitude in our students.


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    WITH MORE MONEY TO SPEND ON COLLEGE ADMISSIONS HELP, RICH KIDS ARE MAKING UP A GROWING SHARE OF COLLEGE STUDENTS. HOW DO AVERAGE KIDS COMPETE? We've got to make sure that everyone sees institutions like Harvard as open to them. That's why we've completely eliminated the parental contribution [toward tuition costs] for any student with a family income of less than $40,000. That's also why our admissions policies are committed to considering each student's achievements in the context of what they had to work with and their family situation.

    THE SAT IS CHANGING FROM A REASONING TEST TO A TEST OF CLASSROOM SKILLS, INCLUDING WRITING. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR STUDENTS IN BAD SCHOOLS? The ability to write well is central to education, and so I'm glad that that's going to be reflected in the SAT. I would certainly oppose any changes in the SAT that would reward special preparation of kinds only open to some, rather than measuring effort and aptitude in ways that were fair to all.

    HOW'S THE BUSH ECONOMIC TEAM DOING? There's enough politics here at Harvard for me without venturing into national politics. I do worry about our country's fiscal situation and how long the world's greatest power should stay the world's greatest borrower.

    YOU COMPLAINED TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION THAT POST-9/11 SCREENING RULES ARE DRIVING SOME FOREIGN STUDENTS TO STUDY IN OTHER COUNTRIES. DON'T WE NEED VIGILANCE? Our applications from China to our graduate schools are down by more than a third, and that obviously has to affect the quality of the students we can bring to this country. That in turn affects American technology and entrepreneurship ... We are compromising our long-run security by reducing this kind of connection with foreign students.

    KERRY AND BUSH BOTH WENT TO YALE. THAT'S GOTTA HURT. Half the Supreme Court is made up of graduates of our law school, and nearly 1 in 6 U.S. Senators have Harvard connections.

    PUBLISHER MORT ZUCKERMAN IS GIVING $10 MILLION TO HARVARD FOR FELLOWSHIPS FOR STUDENTS INTERESTED IN PUBLIC SERVICE. DOES WASHINGTON REALLY NEED MORE HARVARD GRADS? Look, Washington needs more thoughtful, caring people who can look past partisanship to solve real problems, which is what our students do. I think of my own career, which began in academia and then was involved in government, and how much better off I would have been if I would have had some training in government and public managing.

    IF KERRY WINS, WOULD YOU WANT YOUR OLD JOB BACK? I was the 71st Secretary of the Treasury. I'm the 27th president of Harvard. So I expect to be here a long time.

    PRINCETON IS TAKING NEW STEPS TO COMBAT GRADE INFLATION. HALF OF HARVARD'S GRADES ARE EITHER AN A OR A-MINUS. WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT? A society whose students have their grades inflated should not be surprised when its companies' earnings reports prove to be inflated as well. Harvard has changed its policies so the number of students who receive honors will be substantially lower than it has been in the recent past.

    THANK GOD I GRADUATED IN THE RECENT PAST. I HAVE MY HARVARD DIPLOMA, BUT I'M NOT RICH YET. I WANT MY MONEY BACK. You're rich in spirit.