After a packed town hall meeting in Harkness Auditorium, medical school faculty walked away with mixed views on University President Peter Salovey and Provost Benjamin Polaks handling of diversity issues at the School of Medicine.

During the meeting, some faculty at the School of Medicine voiced reservations about Salovey and Polaks willingness to improve the environment for minorities and women at the School of Medicine, while others commended the two administrators for their efforts.

The town hall marks the first time Salovey and Polak have spoken publicly before the medical school faculty about these issues. It provided faculty members with an opportunity to respond to the Gender Equity Committees recommendations, released in December, and the strategies from the Medical School Deans Office, announced in January, to improve the climate for women and minorities at the medical school, Salovey said. After a sexual misconduct case involving former Cardiology Chief Michael Simons MED 84 surfaced in news reports, the deans office formulated a series of initiatives to tackle concerns that minorities and women were not being treated fairly at the school.

Obviously there is residual frustration about the [Simons] case, said Neuropathology Section Chief Laura Manuelidis MED 67 after the meeting. But in sum, it was terrific that the president came, and a cause for hope.

Manuelidis said Salovey was receptive and committed at the town hall, and added that one of Polaks comments about diversity an excellent faculty has to be a diverse faculty were particularly welcome.

In his opening speech to the faculty at the town hall, Polak said he had seen first hand the pressures put on women, sometimes deliberately, to discourage them from going into science. But he said having two daughters led him to realize the importance of having female role models in science.

Still, not all attendees were impressed with the Universitys efforts. One female faculty member, who did not identify herself when she stood up to speak during the Town Hall, asked for an apology from the provost for his decisions in previous sexual misconduct cases. She said admitting the University screwed up in handling some cases would go a long way.

I wasnt sufficiently focused on how important these issues at the medical school are I am now, Polak said, in response to her request.

Another attendee, immunology professor Philip Askenase MED 65, said Salovey and Polak had avoided answering questions about how the medical school can ensure accountability. While Askenase acknowledged that federal laws, state laws and University policy prevent administrators from disclosing certain details of disciplinary proceedings, he expressed concern that it will be difficult for faculty members to monitor if the administration stays true to its promises.

There are elephants in this room, Askenase said, addressing Salovey and Polak. People have asked specific questions that you have avoided.

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At med school town hall, faculty remain divided