Katie Couric's Notebook: Harvard's President

By: Katie Couric
Topics: Katie's Notebook

Video:
Notebook: Harvard's President

Hi, everyone.

Drew Gilpin Faust recalls her mother telling her, "This is a man's world, sweetie, and the sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be."

But Faust, a historian, ignored her mom. She is now the first female president of Harvard. This comes after her predecessor, Larry Summers, wondered if women lack an "intrinsic aptitude" for science - which left many academics seeing red, and Summers turning crimson.

Harvard, the nation's first university, is NOT the first to put a woman at the head of the class. Princeton, Brown, and Penn all beat Harvard to the punch. But nationwide, less than a quarter of colleges and universities are run by women.

Harriett Woods, head of the National Women's Political Caucus, died last week. She pushed to elect women and to name them to powerful positions. Bill Clinton once called her a "bean counter." But sometimes, bean counting really counts.

Women in power create MORE powerful women.

That's a page from my notebook.

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by ethel0207-2009 February 13, 2007 5:05 PM EST: For now, let me say, of more interest to me is Katie Couric's last night's segment on "Spirit of America" - it was about a woman called Janet who once worked for Goldman Sachs, earned a six-figure salary and now has left Goldman Sachs and created a constructive network to help other women. I was greatly impressed. I hope I can be one of the beneficiaries of her advice.

Therefore, I need some advice from Janet, Katie will you please give me her e-mail address? My e-mail address is: madeniskid@yahoo.com.

Maybe the first female president of Harvard University might feature in this segment in years to come - for now my attitude is "well done Harvard!" However, to her all I can say is "congrats - I don't want to prejudge you - so I'll leave everything to time . . .!; Reply to this comment


by dan2098 February 13, 2007 12:51 AM EST: "Women in power create MORE powerful women."

So is this the beginning of the good old girl network? I hope not because it would be every bit as unfortunate as the statistic you quoted (less than a quarter of colleges and universities are run by women).

Drew Faust has a lot to be proud of, but this is the type of article that should remind us that our society has a long way to go before we realize the meaning of equality. We should not be talking about Faust in terms of being a woman, but in terms of being a leader. Why do we care so much about her gender.

The same could be said about race. Tony Dungy, whose Indianapolis Colts won the Superbowl, should be talked about in terms of being a great football coach and not in terms of being an African American. Should he be proud of his heritage? Absolutely. But his accomplishments are the result of his talent, ability, and hard work. Those are the qualities that we should be talking about.

It is time for us to change focus and look at each other as simply people. Let's acknowledge our accomplishments in terms of our character -- the way that we got to our destinations. I believe that when our focus changes from one's gender and race to one's character, we will have "arrived".; Reply to this comment