En Vacances-- Breaking News: Harvard University President Resigns

...Fellowette is enjoying her week off so so so so so so much... although her thighs are killing after a day of skiing which reminded her that once-a-month trips to the gym may not exactly count as regular excersise...also, her eyebrows now have a constant skeptical arch thanks to a very blonde eastern european woman in a sketchy broadway salon wielding a tub of wax. So much for random acts of self-indulgence.

NOW TO THE IMPORTANT STUFF:

I wanted to call my readers' attention to the brouhaha over at the hallowed academic ground of Harvard University (which I have been following totally objectively, not becuase I, like, went there or anything, umm, hehehe). There, dissent from a nearly-unified faculty has let to the resignation of the somewhat dictatorial president. If only we teachers who are far, far from the ivory tower (more like the guard tower) could give our collective egos a brush-up and stand up together, for change. But I guess those things only happen when educators get respect to begin with...

Here's the Wall Street Journal story:

*Summers to Quit Harvard Presidency*

By *DANIEL GOLDEN* and *ZACHARY M. SEWARD*
February 21, 2006; Page A3

Lawrence H. Summers, losing a power struggle with faculty after a
turbulent five years as president of Harvard University, is expected to
resign this week.

Two people familiar with the situation said last night that the former
U.S. Treasury secretary is expected to announce his resignation in
advance of a faculty vote a week from today on a motion of no confidence
in his leadership. It's unclear what plan Harvard may have for naming a
successor or when Mr. Summers's resignation will take effect.

Backing for Mr. Summers from Harvard's seven-member governing board,
known as the Corporation, has eroded in recent weeks in the face of
renewed criticism from many arts and sciences faculty members, the
people familiar with the matter said. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
Robert Rubin, a Corporation member who pushed for Mr. Summers's
appointment in 2001, remains a supporter and was making calls on his
behalf to at least one key Harvard official last week, one person
familiar with the situation said. Several board members, including
former Duke University president Nannerl Keohane and Urban Institute
president Robert Reischauer, have been interviewing deans, faculty
members and alumni in recent weeks about Mr. Summers's performance.

Mr. Summers and Corporation members couldn't be reached for comment. A
Harvard spokesman declined to comment.

Mr. Summers's supporters, and even some of his detractors, say they are
worried it will be difficult for Harvard to find a strong successor now
that the faculty has demonstrated its clout. His propensity for
controversial comments on educational and national issues was regarded
by admirers as a welcome change from other college presidents who devote
themselves primarily to fund raising. His resignation could renew
concerns about whether presidents of elite universities can use their
"bully pulpit" as they once did to express opinions on vital issues
without risking their positions.

Mr. Summers's resignation would end the shortest stint of any Harvard
president since Cornelius Felton died in 1862 after two years in office.
The Corporation selected Mr. Summers, a renowned economist, as a strong
leader who would assert his authority over entrenched fiefdoms. His
achievements include establishing an institute on stem-cell research,
increasing faculty size and expanding Harvard's campus.

However, a number of his initiatives, including curriculum reform, have
bogged down. His brusque management style and sometimes outspoken views
have offended faculty members and led to turnover among deans.

Arts and sciences faculty members voted no confidence in Mr. Summers
last year after he gave a talk suggesting that innate gender differences
might account for the relative scarcity of women with high-level
academic careers in science and math. Faculty critics this year began
assailing him on matters varying from the resignation of a key dean to
the lack of any university discipline meted out to economics professor
Andrei Shleifer, a close friend of the president. Last year, Harvard and
Mr. Shleifer settled a civil suit brought by the federal government,
stemming from allegations that he had violated conflict-of-interest
rules by investing in financial markets in Russia while heading a
foreign-aid program there.

*Write to *Daniel Golden at dan.golden@wsj.com ^1

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114049614996078827.html

Editor's Note:
This story was broken by a close friend of fellow-ette's-- not the same author of the infamous letter to the administator, but someone in the same category of badass people harnessing the mighty power of the pen to do justice. Mazel Tov.