The College within the University

D. Ronald Daniel: There’s a very special governance issue at Harvard. That is the role of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences [FAS] in the...

Return to main article:

D. Ronald Daniel: There’s a very special governance issue at Harvard. That is the role of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences [FAS] in the whole University. Henry obviously can speak to this, but there was a time in Neil’s era, for example—and Neil had a close and effective relationship with Jeremy [President Neil L. Rudenstine and FAS Dean Jeremy R. Knowles]—where the faculty decided it ought to form its own Resources Committee and almost invite itself in at the presidential and Corporation level to examine University-wide financial issues. Neil couldn’t head this off. Jeremy couldn’t head it off. I wondered at the time if it was a reflection of the FAS faculty feeling a little insecure or less central within the University. The business school is so prominent, the law school is so prominent, the medical school is so prominent…

Jay Lorsch: The medical school is also so huge.

Henry Rosovsky: I simply can’t agree that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences would ever feel a sense of inferiority. [laughter]

Daniel: But they appeared to be reaching for more power, for more influence in the University scheme of things.

Lorsch: My way of thinking about it is they have been at the center of power among the faculties and what they’re reluctant to do is to give up any power and to cede any of it, and there are instances in which they want to gain more. I think in their view they are the center of the University and the rest of us are somewhat peripheral, no matter how successful we are. You can see that in the simple fact that nobody else can grant the Ph.D. It’s not a big deal, but it complicates things.

Most popular

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Harvard President Alan Garber Helps First-Years Move In

As a potential settlement with the Trump administration looms, Garber gets students settled. 

Explore More From Current Issue

Man in gray sweater standing in hallway with colorful abstract art on wall.

How Do Single-Celled Organisms Learn and Remember?

A Harvard neuroscientist’s quest to model memory

Book cover of "Black Moses" by Caleb Gayle with subtitle about ambition and the fight for a Black state.

Civil Rights in the American West

A new book chronicles one man’s quest for a Black state.

James Muller in white lab coat leaning on railing in hospital hallway.

Free Speech, the Bomb—and Donald Trump

A Harvard cardiologist on the unlikely alliances that shaped a global movement to prevent nuclear war