This action by Harvard ticks me off. I have two degrees from Harvard, and one thing that has been true in the past is their independence of this particularly odious kind of political toadying. (For the record, more than 70% of Harvard undergraduates are on financial aid — I promise you it isn’t a school chock full of “legacy inbred bluebloods.”)
Back when Harvard President Derek Bok was at loggerheads with Ronald Reagan over his defunding of research and higher education, Harvard’s 350th anniversary came up. American presidents have often been the Commencement Speaker on such occasions, so they asked Reagan. His staff said “not unless you give him a doctorate.” They were clearly gloating at the idea of blackmailing Harvard — an enemy of the administration, as they saw it — into giving Reagan a Harvard degree. Harvard said “we don’t always do that,” which is true. The Administration delivered an ultimatum — no degree, no speech.
Okay, said Harvard, we call your bluff — and raise. The speaker at the 350th was Prince Charles, who went to John Harvard’s alma mater of Cambridge University.
The thing about Harvard and other prestigious colleges and universities is that most conservatives would be thrilled if their children could manage to be admitted. In the US, class distinctions are often mediated by the schools one has gone to. The education isn’t all that different, but the vast majority of students (and their parents) tend to be more driven—and that’s how they gain admission. Yes, legacies get in. And yes, often they are less intelligent (see, for example, George W. Bush).
But US parents know a degree from Harvard, Princeton, or Yale puts their children at a distinct advantage socially and economically. Add in other schools into that mix (e.g. Duke, Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Claremont, Carlton, and 40-50 others) and you have a pretty good cross section of the elites in the US.
The graduates of these schools generally have more in common with each other than they do with much of the rest of the country. And they know it. The black guy who graduated from, say, Amherst College, has more in common with, say, the whites in Fairfield County Connecticut than he does with an inner city black guy from Baltimore or Watts.
If you don’t already know about this, you’re not part of the elite in Amerca.
Radish the wordsmith over 6 years ago
The best and brightest are at U.C. Berkeley.
Striped Cat over 6 years ago
Too many people get into that school because they are legacy inbred bluebloods.
Strawberry Hellcat: Gair I gall, ffon I’r anghall over 6 years ago
And Kissinger got the Nobel PEACE Prize. If anyone deserves having it removed more than Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar – it’s that genocidal monster.
Motivemagus over 6 years ago
This action by Harvard ticks me off. I have two degrees from Harvard, and one thing that has been true in the past is their independence of this particularly odious kind of political toadying. (For the record, more than 70% of Harvard undergraduates are on financial aid — I promise you it isn’t a school chock full of “legacy inbred bluebloods.”)
Back when Harvard President Derek Bok was at loggerheads with Ronald Reagan over his defunding of research and higher education, Harvard’s 350th anniversary came up. American presidents have often been the Commencement Speaker on such occasions, so they asked Reagan. His staff said “not unless you give him a doctorate.” They were clearly gloating at the idea of blackmailing Harvard — an enemy of the administration, as they saw it — into giving Reagan a Harvard degree. Harvard said “we don’t always do that,” which is true. The Administration delivered an ultimatum — no degree, no speech.
Okay, said Harvard, we call your bluff — and raise. The speaker at the 350th was Prince Charles, who went to John Harvard’s alma mater of Cambridge University.
I miss Derek Bok.
Nantucket Premium Member over 6 years ago
When people say “only the good die young” they can use Kissinger (still alive at 94) and Cheney as examples.
twclix over 6 years ago
The thing about Harvard and other prestigious colleges and universities is that most conservatives would be thrilled if their children could manage to be admitted. In the US, class distinctions are often mediated by the schools one has gone to. The education isn’t all that different, but the vast majority of students (and their parents) tend to be more driven—and that’s how they gain admission. Yes, legacies get in. And yes, often they are less intelligent (see, for example, George W. Bush).
But US parents know a degree from Harvard, Princeton, or Yale puts their children at a distinct advantage socially and economically. Add in other schools into that mix (e.g. Duke, Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Claremont, Carlton, and 40-50 others) and you have a pretty good cross section of the elites in the US.
The graduates of these schools generally have more in common with each other than they do with much of the rest of the country. And they know it. The black guy who graduated from, say, Amherst College, has more in common with, say, the whites in Fairfield County Connecticut than he does with an inner city black guy from Baltimore or Watts.
If you don’t already know about this, you’re not part of the elite in Amerca.
Mr. Blawt over 6 years ago
Republicans pretending college education turns you liberal while churning out tomorrow’s regressives.
jimchronister2016 over 5 years ago
Thank you Brian for exposing these creeps!