VOTING ON THE PRESIDENT


Never before in Harvard University's 369-year history had professors voted no confidence in the university president, making the vote against Lawrence H. Summers last week historic. Such votes are uncommon at elite universities. For instance, officials at Princeton and Stanford Universities say professors at those institutions have never taken such a vote. No-confidence votes have been taken at numerous other institutions, although they do not always lead to a president's resignation. Just this winter, professors at community colleges in Rhode Island and Washington State passed no-confidence motions. Here are several other recent cases:


Baylor University, 2004

Last December 85 percent of professors who participated in a campuswide resolution voted in favor of replacing Robert B. Sloan Jr. as president. The vote came after the Faculty Senate passed a resolution in 2003 calling for Mr. Sloan's ouster based on "an avalanche of faculty grievances," and "a climate marked by fear." The Board of Regents continued to support him despite the votes, but Mr. Sloan recently announced he would step down to take the position of chancellor.

University of Southern Mississippi, 2004

After President Shelby F. Thames attempted to fire two professors who were suspicious of a vice president's credentials, faculty members a year ago passed a no-confidence measure by a 430-to-32 vote. Mr. Thames remains president of the university.

Central Washington University, 1998

After Ivory V. Nelson, the president, announced that he would refuse to work with a proposed faculty union, faculty members approved a no-confidence motion, 218 to 81. Mr. Nelson was never fired, but did leave to become president of Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) the next year.

Rensselaer Polytechnic University, 1998

Citing discontent among faculty members stemming from what they viewed as R. Byron Pipes's authoritarian management style and his attempt to fill a dean's position without consulting professors, the Faculty Senate passed a vote of no confidence in the president. The president resigned one week later, before a planned campuswide vote.

Bowie State University, 1996

After some professors accused President Nathan J. Pollard Jr. of behaving like a dictator and changing programs without consulting them, the faculty voted 53 to 25 against the president. Mr. Pollard remained president until 1998, when he resigned amid financial-mismanagement allegations.