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'The Harvard Corporation' stays largely out of public view — except when it speaks
The entity known as The Harvard Corporation has been all over the headlines in recent days as speculation swirled around the job security of Harvard President Claudine Gay, following her recent congressional testimony on antisemitism.
Its 11 voting board members issued a statement early Tuesday standing behind Gay. That decision came after the board extended a previously scheduled weekend meeting into Monday to take a stance on the recent controversy. But the group has remained largely out of public view. There was little information about where they were meeting, when they were meeting or what would come from those discussions.
A spokesman for Harvard wouldn't even confirm to WBUR whether the board was meeting Monday.
Much is laid out about the Corporation in this 2017 Harvard Crimson explainer, but here's a bit more about what we know about the oversight board:
It's the smaller of Harvard's two governing bodies but wields more power
Officially, the Harvard Corporation's name is "The President and Fellows of Harvard College." It's one of two governing boards at Harvard, in addition to the Board of Overseers, but serves as the university’s highest governing body.
Chartered in 1650, the Corporation refers to itself as “the oldest corporation in the Western Hemisphere.” It’s responsible for overseeing Harvard’s “academic, financial, and physical resources and overall well-being,” per its own description.
It's in charge of things like selecting a university president and individual department deans and fund-raising. And as the Crimson noted, it has "the final say" on important issues facing the university.
In recent years, it approved dropping the controversial shield of Harvard Law School due to its associations with an 18th-century slave owner. But as former Corporation senior fellow William Lee told the Harvard Gazette in June 2022, “the Corporation has no greater responsibility than selecting the president of the University and then doing everything [it] can to help the president become successful.”
Its members include influential, wealthy figures in business, politics and academia
At its helm is Penny Pritzker, a billionaire businesswoman and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the Obama administration. She led the Harvard presidential search committee that selected Gay as president. Other long-serving members include Paul J. Finnegan, co-head of a Chicago investment firm and past president of the Harvard Alumni Association and Ted V. Wells Jr., partner and co-chair of the white-shoe law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Past members include David Rubenstein, co-founder of private equity firm The Carlyle Group.
Other newer members include Tracy Palandijan, a Boston nonprofit leader and Carolyn “Biddy” Martin, former president of Amherst College and a German studies scholar. Members can serve up to 12 years broken into two six-year terms.
In 2010, the size of the Corporation doubled following governance changes
Under leadership of then-Harvard President Drew G. Faust, membership on the board increased from 7 members to 13 total (the president also serves as a member) and built in term limits, according to Harvard Magazine. This expansion was done to add perspectives and expertise amid concerns the board was not operating with enough transparency.
When replacements are needed, the board is "self-selecting" according to the Crimson. Corporation members decide who will replace departing or termed-out colleagues. A majority vote of approval is required from the Board of Overseers.
Members have been mum, even as calls were ratcheting up to remove Gay from her post
In an interview with the Crimson last Thursday in which she apologized for remarks at the hearing that inflamed the latest controversy, Gay reportedly said she had “the support of (Penny) Pritzker.” Pritzker, however, had not independently issued any statement in support, the paper noted.
