Disgraced former Harvard President Larry Summers will no longer teach his economics class — just one day after he vowed to continue to regale students with his “important” instruction following bombshell revelations that he communicated extensively with Jeffrey Epstein.
“Mr. Summers has decided it’s in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as Director as Harvard undertakes its review,” a spokesperson told the Harvard Crimson Wednesday night.
Summers’ leave as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, a role he’s held since 2011, is effective immediately, the Crimson reported.
“His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is not scheduled to teach next semester,” his spokesperson said.
The move comes the day after Summers — who announced he was stepping back from public commitments on Monday — vowed to remain in the classroom.
“Some of you will have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr. Epstein, and that I said I’m going to step back from public activities for a time,” he told the packed lecture hall on Tuesday.
“But I think it’s very important to fulfill my teaching obligations. And so, with your permission, We’re gonna go forward and talk about the material in class,” he said before launching into a lecture entitled “The G20: Multilateralism and its Future.”
Former Harvard University President Larry Summers told students he will continue teaching despite claiming to step away from public activities amid Jeffrey Epstein emails scandal. Bloomberg via Getty ImagesAt the time, he gave no indication he would be stepping down from his long-held professor role, despite mounting pressure on the university to cut ties with Summers, including from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
The entire humiliating episode was captured on video by student Rosie Couture, who posted the wince-inducing admission on TikTok.
Summers — who helmed the elite university between 2001 and 2006 and has been a tenured economics professor there since 1983 — was found to have corresponded with the disgraced financier via email in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Summers, however, gave no indication he would be stepping down from his long-held professor role. Alamy Stock Photo
“Some of you will have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr. Epstein, and that I said I’m going to step back from public activities for a time,” Summers told the packed lecture hall. TikTok/@nalgene_queenIn the communications released as part of a massive 23,000-document dump put out by the GOP-led House Oversight Committee, Summers, 70, sought advice on how to navigate a budding fling with a woman who seemingly did not return his affections, at one point self-pityingly referring to himself as a “friend without benefits.” Summers was married at the time to his second wife, and still is.
Couture captioned her TikTok post featuring the video, “POV your Harvard prof opens class by recognizing he’s in the Epstein files” with two vomiting emoji.
“And in the emails released, he was asking Epstein for advice on a young woman he was coercing….. just gross,” she wrote.
Emails sent to Harvard representatives were not returned.






