As another Ivy League scandal comes to a close, Penn President Amy Gutmann is going to be just fine, experts say.
After drawing fire for posing with a student dressed as a suicide bomber, Gutmann has been compared to Harvard University's ex-President Larry Summers, who made headlines after his remarks about women in the sciences offended some Harvard professors.
Summers eventually resigned.
But according to academic officials, comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges.
Some among students, alumni and the population at large were highly critical of Gutmann after photographers caught a snapshot of her smiling with Engineering Senior Saad Saadi, who was dressed in a terrorist outfit.
The negative attention paid to Gutmann in the days after the scandal broke resembled that which surrounded Summers over a year ago, when he gave a speech suggesting that women may lag in the sciences because of innate gender traits. He stepped down in June.
Still, the differences between the two presidents' circumstances seem to outweigh the similarities.
"Gutmann has a lot of good will on her side from students and faculty," said Chris Beam, an editor at ivygateblog.com. Summers, on the other hand, "had faculty against him in the first place."
Ivygateblog.com is one of the blogs that has been following Gutmann and Saadi, a Daily Pennsylvanian photographer, since the now-infamous photograph was released on the Web. The blog has also compared Gutmann with Summers.
Indeed, as emotions cool and interest in the matter declines, Penn administrators are enthusiastically speaking out in Gutmann's defense.
"I and many others fully support [Gutmann], who has shown great leadership for this University," said School of Arts and Science Dean Rebecca Bushnell.
Bonnie Gibson - vice president for Budget and Management Analysis, who works closely with Gutmann - likewise noted that "Gutmann has earned the respect of this institution through her words and actions."
The fact that interest is dying down at all is another telltale sign that Gutmann is not likely to meet the same fate as her former counterpart.
"I doubt [this] is going to stick to her," said Richard Bradley, author of Harvard Rules, a book about Summers' influence on the Cambridge, Mass., institution.
The picture of Gutmann "won't in the long run offend any significant constituency of the University," he added.
Bradley also pointed to Gutmann's adept handling of the costume controversy as a means of distinguishing the two academics - and as a means for Gutmann and Penn to rescue themselves from any public relations fallout.
Gutmann has issued two formal public statements addressing the matter in addition to meeting with student groups that were upset about Saadi's costume.
Conversely, Summers "was so clumsy about the way he tried to compensate for his gaffes that no one would forgive his mistakes," Bradley added.
But though Gutmann was seriously considered for the Harvard presidency in 2001, Bradley says that the photo incident could hurt any chance that she would be considered to replace Summers now.
After the Summers scandal, "Harvard is very image-conscious," Bradley said, adding that even something as "trivial" as Penn's Halloween scandal could sway any Harvard decision about Gutmann.
In the meantime, Gutmann - who will not comment further on the Halloween photo issue - has said repeatedly that she has no intentions of leaving Penn.
