Months after a secret e-mail search controversy at Harvard College , Evelynn M. Hammonds announced on Tuesday that she will step down as dean on July 1 , according to a statement posted online . Hammonds came under fire in March for conducting a search of the e-mail accounts of resident deans in an effort to find who leaked information regarding a cheating scandal involving more than 100 students . The Harvard Crimson , the daily newspaper of Harvard College , published an article in April titled , `` To Rebuild Trust , Hammonds Must Resign . '' The article concluded by stating `` With Hammonds 's resignation , Harvard can begin to bridge the rift of trust between the administration and the community it serves . '' Hammonds said in a statement that the e-mail controversy was `` not a motivating factor '' in her decision to step down as dean . `` I was never asked to step down , '' she said . `` I have been in discussions to return to academia and my research for some time . '' Hammonds will take a sabbatical after 11 years of continuous service before returning to her teaching program and her scholarship , the statement says . `` Being dean of Harvard College has been an immensely rewarding experience for me , '' said Hammons in the statement , `` But I miss engaging deeply with my scholarship and teaching . '' `` I 'm grateful to [ Hammonds ] for all she has done to help our undergraduates thrive , '' said President Drew Faust , `` and we will be fortunate to continue benefiting from her talents and wisdom . '' Harvard students forced to withdraw amid cheating scandal . In 2008 , Hammonds became the first African-American and the first woman to be named dean of Harvard College . After the scandal in March , the school apologized for the way it handled the secret search . `` While the specific document made public may be deemed by some as not particularly consequential , the disclosure of the document and nearly word-for-word disclosure of a confidential board conversation led to concerns that other information -- especially student information we have a duty to protect as private -- was at risk , '' said a statement from Hammonds and Michael D. Smith , dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences . `` Consequently , with the approval of the dean of FAS ( Faculty of Arts and Sciences ) and the University General Counsel , and the support of the dean of Harvard College , a very narrow , careful , and precise subject-line search was conducted by the University 's IT department , '' they added . Smith and Hammonds stressed that the search was limited to administrative accounts and that it did not involve a review of e-mail content . `` To be clear : No one 's e-mails were opened and the contents of no one 's e-mails were searched by human or machine , '' they said . The search successfully identified a resident dean who had forwarded a confidential e-mail . However , after review , school officials determined the dean in question had committed `` an inadvertent error and not an intentional breach '' by sending the message to two students . `` Operating without any clear precedent for the conflicting privacy concerns and knowing that no human had looked at any e-mails during or after the investigation , we made a decision that protected the privacy of the resident dean who had made an inadvertent error and allowed the student cases being handled by this resident dean to move forward expeditiously , '' Smith and Hammonds said . `` We understand that others may see the situation differently , and we apologize if any resident deans feel our communication at the conclusion of the investigation was insufficient , '' they added . News of the secret search drew immediate criticism from some members of Harvard 's faculty . Harry Lewis , a professor and former dean of Harvard College , said on his blog that he will likely move most of his personal e-mails to another account , keeping his Harvard address just for business . He described the way the school handled the case as dishonorable . `` Why not tell people you are reading their e-mail ? Would it not be the honorable thing to do ? What is to be gained by not doing that ? Other than avoiding , perhaps , the embarrassment of acknowledging that you are doing something to which the targets would reasonably object if they knew it , '' he wrote . A month prior , the school had announced that more than half the students implicated in the cheating scandal had been required to withdraw for a time . More than 100 students were investigated for plagiarism or for having `` inappropriately collaborated '' on a course 's take-home , open-book spring final exam . The class was Government 1310 : Introduction to Congress , according to The Harvard Crimson . Many of those who were not forced to withdraw faced disciplinary probation at the Ivy League institution in Cambridge , Massachusetts , and the remaining were cleared . Opinion : An easy out for athletes in Harvard scandal ?
Hammonds will step down as The Harvard Crimson dean on daily . She was the first African-American dean and first woman dean there . Hammonds was criticized after she conducted a secret search of faculty e-mails . She was trying to find out who leaked information in a student cheating scandal .