This statue is popularly called the "Statue of the Three Lies." Two of the three lies are based on a semantical argument over whether Harvard can really be considered "founder" based on an earlier publically-funded contribution to the school predating Harvard's contribution, whereas the third lie rightly points out that no likeness of Harvard was preserved so the model of the statue was a Harvard student, not John Harvard. People rub the student's left foot for good luck at crafting convincing lies (or convincing disguises)