John Summerskill; Headed San Francisco State in 1960s

John Summerskill, who was threatened with dismissal after his low-key handling of student unrest during his presidency of San Francisco State College in the late 1960s, has died. He was 65.

Summerskill died Thursday of liver cancer at his home in Belle Mead, N.J.

His tenure at San Francisco was brief--1966 to 1968--but tumultuous as students began a period of protests against the Vietnam War and perceived injustices against blacks.

A liberal who was personally opposed to the Vietnam War, Summerskill became the target of then-Gov. Ronald Reagan and other political conservatives who considered him too lenient with students during violent demonstrations. He was succeeded by Robert R. Smith and then S.I. Hayakawa, who won praise from conservatives for using massive police force to quell student disturbances.

Specifically, Summerskill was criticized for failing to call in police on Dec. 6, 1967, when students shut down the campus with a demonstration protesting the suspension of four Black Student Union members. Fist fights and property damage followed. The black students had been accused of beating up staff members of the Daily Gater, the campus paper.

It later was learned that Summerskill was following the advice of two police inspectors who were at his side throughout the day. Summerskill and his advisers feared that bringing uniformed police on campus would cause even greater violence and property destruction.

Summerskill was ultimately exonerated by a trustees’ investigation, with the board agreeing he had acted “with prudence” and should be retained as president.

Nevertheless, chafing at Reagan’s budget cutting and what he considered political interference in the operation of the state colleges, Summerskill resigned in May, 1968, as students staged a sit-in in key campus buildings.

Before his presidency at San Francisco State, Summerskill, a clinical psychologist, worked 15 years at Cornell University as teacher and administrator. As vice president for student affairs, he was credited with reorganizing student government in order to ease tensions between students and the administration.

After he left California, Summerskill served as Ford Foundation adviser at Haile Selassie University in Ethiopia, examined family planning agencies in Africa, Asia and the Middle East for the Institute of Public Administration, and was vice president of the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J., operating College Board programs.

He was president of Athens College in Greece from 1979 until 1985, when he retired to operate a New Jersey vineyard and winery.

Summerskill is survived by his wife, Miriam, two daughters and a son, two stepdaughters and three stepsons and nine grandchildren.