Harvard Failing Faster Than The Roman Empire

A crushing cancel culture, accusations of plagiarism, protests on campus, lawsuits, Congressional investigations, and big-dollar donors running for the door. Inside the campus turmoil, where the Emperor Charles has no clothes.

Rewrite of an article by  JON KELLER Titled Why Harvard University Is Failing at Everything

 In the early days of Claudine Gay's Harvard presidency, she faced a Congressional inquiry on rising campus antisemitism. 

This came amidst turmoil following an attack on Israel. Gay's responses, including her stance on calls for genocide, sparked controversy and international criticism. 

Despite Harvard's prestigious history, recent events have exposed flaws in its administration and academic standards. Grade inflation, leadership controversies, and declining rankings have tarnished its reputation. Moreover, the campus environment has become tense, alienating students and alumni. 

Harvard's missteps raise questions not just about its own value, but also about the broader purpose of higher education. As Harvard grapples with its identity and legacy, it confronts challenges to its once-unquestioned status.

Harvard, with its vast endowment of $50.7 billion, faces growing scrutiny and challenges. Despite its wealth, Harvard's academic progress and leadership have been questioned. The Allston campus project, initiated 18 years ago, has lagged behind MIT's biotech advancements in Kendall Square. 

This delay has led to a brain drain, with prominent scientists like Stuart Schreiber departing for better opportunities. Similarly, Harvard's Kennedy School, once known for producing public-sector leaders, now sees a significant portion of its graduates entering the private sector. Concerns about government skepticism among students and controversies over faculty dismissals further tarnish Harvard's reputation.

Grade inflation is rampant, with 79% of undergraduates receiving A grades in recent years. The campus environment fosters political intolerance, with conservative voices often marginalized. Harvard's handling of the Israel/Hamas conflict has resulted in legal complaints alleging discrimination and harassment. Additionally, infrastructure issues, such as heating and housing problems, have plagued student life.

These challenges raise questions about Harvard's ability to maintain its academic excellence and reputation in the face of evolving realities and increasing criticism.

Students and parents are increasingly critical of Harvard's campus conditions despite its immense wealth. Maintenance issues persist, with reports of peeling paint and disruptive renovations. Graduate students faced water shortages and damaged property, with Harvard officials offering inadequate compensation.

Harvard Square, an extension of the campus, suffers from neglect, contrasting with Boston University's efforts to revitalize its surroundings. The recent loss of major donors, like Tim Day, reflects dissatisfaction with Harvard's direction, particularly regarding diversity initiatives and responses to campus issues.

The university's endowment team's underperformance compounds financial challenges, prompting calls for reform from CFO Ritu Kalra. Concerns about antisemitism on campus persist, with Rabbi David Wolpe resigning from an advisory committee due to perceived inaction. Interim President Alan Garber's appointment of Professor Derek Penslar to address antisemitism further fuels controversy.

Criticism extends beyond Jewish concerns, with Professor Danielle Allen condemning disruptive protests as violations of university norms. Harvard's failure to address these issues raises doubts about its commitment to campus improvement and academic excellence.

Harvard is facing a multitude of challenges, including declining prestige, financial strain, discontent among students and faculty, and loss of support from alumni and donors. Despite these issues, there appears to be a lack of recognition among Harvard's leadership regarding the severity of the situation and how to address it.

In response to criticism, former Harvard President Claudine Gay attributed her resignation to external "demagogues" undermining the university's core values. However, Harvard's reliance on outside influences is not new, with significant funding from foreign governments contributing to concerns about intolerance and free expression on campus.

Transparency and openness are suggested remedies for Harvard's woes. The university's communication strategy has been criticized for its lack of engagement, hindering efforts to address internal and external challenges effectively.

Calls for change emphasize the need for humility, openness to diverse perspectives, and a proactive approach to addressing criticism. Harvard's failure to uphold its founding principles of excellence and truth raises questions about its future and relevance in academia.

In addition,

Harvard helped Nazi Germany improve its image in the West

The profound impact of Nazi policies on German academia during the 1930s, highlighted the systematic suppression of dissenting voices, particularly targeting Jewish scholars and those with left-leaning ideologies. It elucidated the coercive tactics employed by the Nazis to enforce ideological conformity within universities, such as the expulsion of Jewish faculty and the appointment of Nazi commissars to enforce compliance.

The account of Peter Drucker's experience at Frankfurt University poignantly illustrates the moral dilemmas faced by intellectuals in the face of totalitarianism. Drucker's decision to leave Germany underscores the chilling effect of Nazi control over academic institutions and the erosion of academic freedom.

Furthermore, the contrasting responses of intellectuals like Martin Heidegger demonstrate the complex interplay between ideology, opportunism, and moral compromise. Heidegger's collaboration with the Nazi regime exemplifies the betrayal of intellectual integrity in exchange for personal gain and ideological alignment.

The expulsion of renowned scholars like Albert Einstein symbolizes the devastating brain drain inflicted upon German academia by Nazi persecution, leading to the loss of invaluable intellectual capital and the disruption of scientific progress.

Research into Harvard's collaboration with Nazi Germany gains significance amid current debates on campus antisemitism framed as freedom of speech. Historians note Harvard's historical ties to Nazi Germany, indicating a pattern of reluctance to condemn evil regimes.

Harvard's recent controversies, including the resignation of President Claudine Gay and criticism for her response to calls for genocide against Jewish students, echo past instances of repressed antisemitism. Notably, Harvard's retention of a fellowship named after a top Nazi industrialist raises concerns about the university's response to antisemitism in light of substantial donations from Mideast regimes.

Harvard's history includes welcoming a top Nazi official, Ernst Hanfstaengl, in 1934, highlighting the university's complicity with the Nazi regime. Despite protests from students, Harvard administrators and alumni embraced Hanfstaengl, reflecting a pattern of insensitivity to antisemitic sentiments.

The legacy of Harvard's past leaders, such as A. Lawrence Lowell, who proposed quotas on Jewish student admissions, underscores the university's history of discrimination. Medoff suggests that Harvard's actions, like sending delegates to Nazi-controlled universities, illustrate a troubling pattern of support for oppressive regimes.

Also, Harvard's historical entanglements with Nazi Germany raise serious pertinent questions about its commitment to combating antisemitism and upholding democratic values.

Historian Stephen Norwood's book, "The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower: Complicity and Conflict on American Campuses," reveals Harvard's contribution to Nazi Germany's image rehabilitation efforts in the West. According to Norwood, Harvard's administration and student leaders provided significant support to the Hitler regime during its persecution of Jews and military expansion.

Norwood criticizes Harvard's president at the time, James B. Conant, for not only remaining silent on antisemitism but actively collaborating with it. Conant allowed Nazi symbols on campus, including a wreath bearing the swastika placed in a Harvard chapel by Germany's top diplomat in Boston. Additionally, Harvard's policies during the 1930s restricted Jewish refugees, particularly Jewish professors, from seeking refuge at the university.

Conant's belated condemnation of Nazism after the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938 contrasts with his earlier actions. Despite Harvard's later rebuttal, Norwood provides evidence of Conant's efforts to foster friendly relationships with Nazi university leaders, even as they purged Jewish faculty and promoted antisemitic racial science.

Norwood's research also highlights other Harvard affiliates who sympathized with Hitler's regime, such as Dean Roscoe Pound of Harvard Law School, who praised Hitler's leadership during a visit to Germany.

Norwood emphasizes the role of American university presidents during this period, arguing that Harvard's choices were not inevitable, as demonstrated by the actions of other institutions like Williams College and British universities, which took stands against Nazi collaboration.

In conclusion, Norwood's book calls attention to the university's complicity with Nazism, urging a reassessment of Harvard’s historical legacy of “Everyone shall consider as the main end of his life and studies, to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life,” and its original motto “Veritas”, adopted by Harvard's in 1643, which is Latin for “truth,”!

Source:

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2024/02/27/harvard-failure-2024/