Dive Summary:
- Harvard College Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds, who was heavily criticized for her role in the searches of faculty emails during this year's cheating scandal, will leave her position after five years on the job.
- Hammonds ignited further controversy when she revealed she had ordered more email searches without the authorization of Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, who had approved the previous search. Hammonds indicated her resignation has nothing to do with the email search scandal.
- Hammonds was the first female and the first black dean of Harvard College, Harvard University's undergraduate college; the college has announced Hammonds will stay on as a faculty member and start a new program dealing with issues of race and gender in science and medicine.
From the article:
Faculty members described a loss of trust after the searches became public, and The Crimson called on Ms. Hammonds to resign. Harvard’s president, Drew Gilpin Faust, conceded that the university’s e-mail privacy policy was contradictory, and commissioned an outside lawyer to investigate the affair.
Ms. Hammonds said, “The e-mail controversy was difficult, but it was not a motivating factor in my decision to step down as dean.”