CWU PRESIDENT APPLAUDS HARVARD'S CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT

February 12, 2007

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- On Sunday (Feb. 11), Drew Gilpin Faust was named the 28th president of Harvard University. Faust also becomes the first female president in Harvard's 371-year history.

"I think it is an excellent choice," says Central Washington University President Jerilyn S. McIntyre. "Her selection is remarkable not just because she is a woman, but also because she was an internal candidate, which is sometimes a difficult route to a presidency."

While McIntyre acknowledges she does not know Faust personally, she is well aware of her reputation as an outstanding historian.

"As much as she may want to be the 'President of Harvard' and not the 'woman President of Harvard' -- as she is quoted in the newspaper as saying -- she will, inevitably, be watched very carefully and identified as the 'first woman president of Harvard,'" McIntyre notes.

Faust succeeds Lawrence Summers, who served as president from 2001 to 2006. He left the post on June 30, 2006, after coming under fire for comments he made intimating that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers.

McIntyre adds, "After Lawrence Summers' remarks, I think it was appropriate that Harvard chose a woman."

Faust will officially become Harvard's president on July 1.

Contact: Robert Lowery (509)-963-1487/fax 509-863-2301/e-mail: loweryr@cwu.edu