Say goodbye to Summers
So the crackpots in the faculty of Arts and Sciences have succeeded in getting rid of Summers. Summers had the misfortune to stir their ire in some of his views. In 2002 he ventured that the calls for the divestment of Harvard from Israel was "anti-Semitic in effect, if not intent." Big mistake #1. Remember the hard-left of Harvard are very pro-Palestinian.
Second error was to fail to pay enough lip-service to left regarding gender, race, religion, sexual preference, and the military. This led to a no-confidence vote against him last March by the A&S faculty. That no-confidence motion provided they were unhappy about ''Mr. Summers' apparently ongoing convictions about the capacities and rights not only of women but also of African-Americans, third-world nations, gay people, and colonized peoples," (Dershowitz article). When Summers opined that there might be a predisposition for success in mathematics and sciences ... and men just might have it, the left began baying for blood. Since that point they have plotted to oust him.
Now, here is the kicker: the majority of the faculty and student body do not want him removed. On the radio this morning I heard that as many as 65% of the student body actively wanted Summers to stay, and only 19% stated that they wanted him gone. And of the various faculties and schools, only the A&S faculty voted against him, owning as it does, a lock on far-left political correctness: freedom of speech is fine, as long as it agrees with our beliefs. And Summers consistently diverged from the hard-left. But they have the corporation's ear -- may it rot off their collective heads.
Where does that leave Harvard? In a very bad place -- a place where academic freedoms, fundamental freedoms and independence can no longer exist. Exit Harvard from serious consideration as a top flight academic institution, enter Harvard as the next jingoist organ of the left. Even Alan Dershowitz (whose excellent summary of this absurd end to Summer's Presidency inspired me to write this blog entry) who is by no means right wing, recongnizes that this is a dangerous step for Harvard.
Tomorrow: civil war in Iraq and why nobody is really very surprised.
Second error was to fail to pay enough lip-service to left regarding gender, race, religion, sexual preference, and the military. This led to a no-confidence vote against him last March by the A&S faculty. That no-confidence motion provided they were unhappy about ''Mr. Summers' apparently ongoing convictions about the capacities and rights not only of women but also of African-Americans, third-world nations, gay people, and colonized peoples," (Dershowitz article). When Summers opined that there might be a predisposition for success in mathematics and sciences ... and men just might have it, the left began baying for blood. Since that point they have plotted to oust him.
Now, here is the kicker: the majority of the faculty and student body do not want him removed. On the radio this morning I heard that as many as 65% of the student body actively wanted Summers to stay, and only 19% stated that they wanted him gone. And of the various faculties and schools, only the A&S faculty voted against him, owning as it does, a lock on far-left political correctness: freedom of speech is fine, as long as it agrees with our beliefs. And Summers consistently diverged from the hard-left. But they have the corporation's ear -- may it rot off their collective heads.
Where does that leave Harvard? In a very bad place -- a place where academic freedoms, fundamental freedoms and independence can no longer exist. Exit Harvard from serious consideration as a top flight academic institution, enter Harvard as the next jingoist organ of the left. Even Alan Dershowitz (whose excellent summary of this absurd end to Summer's Presidency inspired me to write this blog entry) who is by no means right wing, recongnizes that this is a dangerous step for Harvard.
Tomorrow: civil war in Iraq and why nobody is really very surprised.
posted by Zaphod at Thursday, February 23, 2006
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