BOSTON (AP) -- Lawrence Summers was touring the Harvard University athletic fields in September when he saw a group of linemen lunging for the football. Without warning, Summers -- in suit and tie -- jumped into the middle of the drill, got the ball and began running the show.
``He kind of off-the-cuff took over one of the drills,'' coach Tim Murphy recalled. ``I think our kids got a big kick out of it.''
Whether on the athletic field or with the faculty, Harvard's new president has been leaping into the fray since he took the post in July.
Among the issues the former Clinton administration treasury secretary has faced in recent months:
-- a threat by some of the nation's top black scholars to defect to Princeton.
-- questions about his support for Harvard's banished ROTC program.
-- opposition from faculty members to his push to hire younger professors.
-- accusations by Hispanic studies professors that he is not supportive.
-- demands by janitors and other low-paid Harvard employees for a ``living wage.''
The flurry of controversies in the first months is no surprise, said Summers' friend Donna Shalala, who served with him in President Clinton's Cabinet and is now president of the University of Miami.
``Everybody makes demands,'' said Shalala, former secretary of health and human services. ``It's called `gotcha.' They're looking for everything. Fundamentally, they're wondering, `Who is this person and what do they care about?'''
Summers already has established a far more confrontational style than his predecessor, Neil Rudenstine. His bluntness -- some say abrasiveness -- has bruised egos, but his energy has many excited.
Summers, 47, seemed unfazed by the recent challenges during a brief interview, but acknowledged: ``Certainly, I come to Harvard after having been away for a decade with a lot to learn.''
Summers, a native of New Haven, Conn., was an economics professor at Harvard for 10 years, beginning in 1983, before leaving to work in the Treasury. Clinton appointed him secretary in 1999.
An early test for Summers at Harvard came after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He responded by praising Harvard's ROTC program, which was kicked off campus during the Vietnam War and later stripped of university funding because of the military's ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy on gays.
In November, Summers asked faculty members to review their grading standards after a newspaper report revealed grade inflation so great that 91 percent of Harvard students graduated with honors.
He has also shaken up the faculty with a push to hire younger professors he believes have their best work ahead of them. Summers stirred charges of age discrimination by denying tenure to two 54-year-old scholars.
In December, Summers received recommendations for a ``living wage'' or Harvard's lowest-paid workers, an issue that prompted a student sit-in of Rudenstine's office last spring. He is expected to respond this month.
In the biggest blow-up yet, three stars of the school's black studies department -- Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Anthony Appiah -- threatened to bolt for Princeton last month because they said Summers had not adequately backed affirmative action.
West was particularly angry, complaining Summers had shown disrespect by criticizing his scholarship, including his recent recording of a rap CD. West was also said to be insulted when Summers brought up grade inflation in his classes.
Hispanic scholars then jumped in, accusing Summers of failing to support the creation of a Hispanic American studies center.
Summers has tried to make amends with the black studies department by apologizing for miscommunication and pledging support for diversity. He also said he is open to building the Hispanic American center.
Even his efforts at peacemaking have been the subject of criticism.
Shelby Steele, a black scholar, wrote a blistering opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal in which he argued that ``white guilt'' restrains many whites from criticizing blacks. Steele rebuked Summers for apologizing to West. Steele called it ``putting clothes on the naked emperor.''
Summers would not respond to charges that he capitulated.
Stephan Thernstrom, a Harvard history professor who has debated West on affirmative action, said Summers was asking hard but necessary questions.
``It's appropriate,'' he said. ``I don't think African-American studies or any department should be sacrosanct.''
Summers' devil's advocate approach may fuel some controversy because it is so different from Rudenstine's, who was known to bring a yellow notepad to meetings with faculty members and silently nod and jot down notes.
Trevor Cox, who runs the Philips Brooks House Association, the umbrella for Harvard's student community service groups, said in two meetings, Summers' style threw students off-stride.
``He asks a lot of questions and they're often very challenging, so you're not sure where he's going,'' he said. ``It can be seen as confrontational.''
Summers would not comment in detail on his style, saying only that he tries to speak with faculty ``in a straightforward way.''
Shalala said she does not recognize the arrogant Summers described to her by others, but added that he may have to temper his aggressiveness because change comes slowly to universities. ``He's smart and impatient,'' she said. ``He'll learn. He's always adjusted to the situations he's in.''