CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Emerging from a standing-room-only meeting of Harvard’s faculty last night, supporters and detractors of the university’s president, Lawrence Summers, said he is likely to weather calls for his ouster, at least in the short term.

In a brief speech at the outset of the session, Mr. Summers tried to calm a faculty roiled by long-simmering grievances as well as remarks he made last month about gender disparities in math and science. Before yesterday’s meeting, some faculty members had gone so far as to call for a “no confidence” vote in his leadership.

“I pledge to you that I will seek to listen more, and more carefully, and to temper my words and actions in ways that convey respect and help us work together more harmoniously,” Mr. Summers said, according to a text of his remarks released by the university. “No doubt I will not always get things right. But I am determined to set a different tone.”

The economics professor and former Treasury secretary also called on the professors to be civil, at least with one another. “If there are harsh words to be said, I ask only that you direct them toward me, not one another,” he said. “Whatever our differences, I hope we can take care not to divide the institution we love.”

At a regular faculty meeting last week, there was an outpouring of anger toward Mr. Summers. The onslaught was triggered by Mr. Summers’s suggestion at an economic conference last month, that “intrinsic differences” account for part of the reason women are underrepresented in math and science faculties.

According to professors leaving the meeting, the speeches yesterday were more moderate than those last week, with many speakers taking no direct position on Mr. Summers’s fitness for office. Only one, physics professor Daniel Fisher, called for the Harvard president to resign, several of those in attendance said.

The meeting was closed to most reporters, although under a long-standing arrangement, two student journalists from the Harvard Crimson were permitted to attend. Mr. Summers normally presides at faculty meetings, but yesterday he deferred to the faculty dean, William Kirby. “My desire is simply to listen,” Mr. Summers said.

No formal votes were taken at yesterday’s meeting, which involved only one of Harvard’s 10 schools, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. However, several professors said an offer by three senior faculty members to act as liaisons to Mr. Summers was not well received. Volunteering for the self-selected panel was a former dean, Jeremy Knowles; a professor of government, Sidney Verba, and a professor of government and sociology, Theda Skocpol.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted the outcome to be,” said a professor of government, Jennifer Hochschild. “I have faith that we’re going to get out of this without having a fiasco.”

Like many other professors, Ms. Hochschild said that while she accepted as genuine Mr. Summers’s commitment to work more closely with the faculty, she was not sure what that would entail. “I think nobody actually has any idea how that’s going to happen,” she said.

A professor of psychology, Steven Pinker, said last night’s special session was “much, much more collegial” than the regular meeting convened last week.

Another participant said that despite the more reserved language, there was still deep bitterness towards Mr. Summers. “There was still clear anger that many people expressed,” said a history professor, James Kloppenberg.

Faculty members said there was no discussion of a “no confidence” vote against Mr. Summers. However, a professor of anthropology and African-American studies, J. Loran Matory, said later in an interview that he still plans to offer such a motion at the next faculty meeting, on March 15.”In fact, I’ll do it right now,” he told the Crimson.

As he made his way to the faculty meeting yesterday afternoon, Mr. Summers braved a gauntlet of reporters, photographers, and television crews seeking to cover his arrival. As the press horde slipped and skidded through the snow and slush, one reporter asked the university president if he planned to resign.

Mr. Summers ignored that question, saying only, “I’m looking forward to continuing the dialogue with members of the faculty at the meeting.”

To accommodate an unusual crowd of more than 450 faculty members, the gathering was moved from its traditional location in University Hall to the Lowell Lecture Hall. Microwave and satellite trucks from local television stations lined the nearby streets.

Several dozen students critical of Mr. Summers staged a rally outside Harvard’s Science Center, which faces the meeting site. “Larry must go!” a sign carried by one member of the group read. “Free speech does not make you right,” another placard said.

As the demonstration concluded, the students dropped ballots in a box, holding a symbolic vote of “no confidence” in Mr. Summers.

In their speeches, protesters aired various grievances against Mr. Summers and Harvard, but generally said little about his highly publicized remarks on gender disparities.

“Today, we’re here to demand the complete removal of sexism on this campus,” said a Harvard freshman, Alyssa Aguilera.

A handful of students supportive of Mr. Summers stood nearby. Some of them have started a Web site, online at www.studentsforlarry.org, that features a collection of news and opinion pieces about the controversy.

A founder of the site and a Harvard senior, Joshua Mendelsohn, said more than 400 students at the school have signed a statement in support of Mr. Summers. “All of us agree what’s going on is a real affront to academic freedom,” Mr. Mendelsohn said.

CRISES OF CONFIDENCE

Relations between presidents and faculty can be bumpy at American colleges and universities. Here is a look at some recent “no confidence” votes:

2005

* After several “no confidence” votes by the faculty senate, Baylor University president Robert Sloan resigned in January to become university chancellor. Issues included, in the wake of a murder of a basketball player, an investigation into NCAA payment violations, a school construction spree, and tuition increases.

* Last March, the faculty senate at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg expressed “no confidence” in its president, Shelby Thames, after he attempted to fire two professors. This month, the senate passed another resolution asking the state College Board to begin to search for a successor.

2004

* The faculty of Texas A&M University were divided on a “no confidence” vote about President Rumaldo Juarez: a third voted “no confidence,” a third said they were confident in his leadership, and a third did not vote. At issue were complaints about communication between the faculty and the administration. The Board of Regents supported the president.

* Faculty at Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the largest college at the University of Georgia at Athens, held an Internet poll in which they voted “no confidence” in President Michael Adams after he refused to extend the contract of a popular athletic director. The Board of Regents stood by Mr. Adams.

2003

* A “no confidence” motion was proposed regarding Harvey Perlman, the chancellor at University of Nebraska, where the issue was his proposal to eliminate eight tenured faculty posts to balance the budget. The motion was withdrawn when the sponsor left the senate.

2002

* Faculty voted “no confidence” in President Chris White of Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina, after he asked the registrar to recalculate the grade average of a basketball star. Mr. White later resigned.

2001

* The chancellor of the California State University system was the subject of a series of “no confidence” votes over his leadership style and contract negotiations.

1999

* The SUNY Board of Trustees faced a series of “no confidence” votes from the faculty senates at many of its state-run campuses over a lack of representation on administrative job searches and lack of faculty input on education requirements.