He said that the University’s nondiscrimination policy “is something that the general counsel works with,” and he said that he did not know the status of discussions on the incorporation of a gender identity clause into the code.

And he said that the proposal for a women’s center “would fall within the remit of the dean of the College, who as I understand it has in the past had some concerns about it.” Administrators have expressed worries that a center specifically designed for female students might violate the University’s nondiscrimination policy.

BACK TO BUSINESS

Summers said he has been putting in “longer days and more weekends” of late to ensure that, even amid the uproar, “the business of the University continues.”

But he declined to name any particular policy moves he had made in the past six weeks. “I can’t share specific decisions,” he said.

Summers said he has directed some of his attention to the future of the Harvard Management Company, which manages the University’s $22.6 billion endowment.

In an interview following the announced departure of the management company’s chief last month, University treasurer James F. Rothenberg would not rule out the possibility of closing the firm and moving entirely to external management of the endowment. But when asked yesterday if the management company would continue to exist, Summers said, “I assume it will.”

Summers, who as deputy secretary of the Treasury orchestrated a multi-billion-dollar international aid package to prop up the Mexican peso in 1995, is preparing to return to Mexico next week for meetings with top government officials and Harvard alumni.

—Staff writer Daniel J. Hemel can be reached at hemel@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Zachary M. Seward can be reached at seward@fas.harvard.edu.