We are hopeful that, as a community committed to learning, we may take steps that will bring on our shared humanity and values in order to tone rather than intensify the deeply ingrained divisions and animosities so painfully evident in the wider world.” We have no illusion that Harvard alone may easily bridge the extensively diverse views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ,” the school’s leadership said.
This statement came after Lawrence Summers, the past president of Harvard, issued harsh criticism of the university for continuing to exist in a letter that was signed but whose authors and signatories were unknown. & nbsp, true bravery. In addition, & nbsp,
After Putin’s war and the determination to sail the Ukraine symbol over Harvard Yard, Bacow made a strong statement of support for Ukraine, which Summers noted. However, 48 hours later, there is still no official Harvard speech at this time of social evaluation. & nbsp,
Otherwise, the ethically repugnant speech made by student groups blaming all the assault on Israel is how Harvard is defined. & nbsp, I feel ill. I find it incomprehensible why the administration did not remove the university and denounce this assertion.
Is the Harvard Leadership’s revised declaration, which was made a few days later, any better when it refers to” common humanity”? They certainly forgot Confucius’ statement that men have similar natures. Andnbsp, what separates them so drastically is their behavior. Subsequent occurrences demonstrate just how far.
However, it is unclear why Harvard’s faculty and students may surprise Summers or anyone else. & nbsp, Harvard’s history has been characterized by a similar mindset for many years.
On April 11, 1968, the later Harvard scholar Alexander Gerschenkron, who was born in Russia, gave a lecture there. & nbsp,
Two days prior, hundreds of students and professional activists yelled” Sieg heil,”” demanded the elimination of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps ( ROTC ),” occupied University Hall and renamed it Che Guevara Hall ,” and” shoved faculty and administrators down stairs while shouting expletives.”
These incidents led to an urgent meeting of the Harvard staff, where Gerschenkron gave his speech that was broadcast unrestrictedly on the television. & nbsp,
I hear a lot of speak about the imperial war machine, but any man with fair authority must realize that this is all nonsense and low-level social talk. .. …
Additionally, this faculty is not the appropriate defender of intellectual freedom. ….. Senator Joe McCarthy claimed that sixteen, 17 years back, when scientific freedoms were cruelly and violently threatened, it was not the faculty that resisted the threat. The staff was intimidated and subdued. & nbsp, Let’s take a moment to look honestly at this faculty and ourselves.
Some people are preoccupied with their studies and have no interest in the outside world. Then,” there are the middle-aged popularity kids who have seriously harmed the university ,” according to nbsp. They fear disapproval in addition to seeking fame, particularly” in the surroundings of terror- worry of boycotts, of decrease in election in their courses.”
The Most Incredible Thing & nbsp, a story by Hans Christian Andersen that surprisingly foreshadowed both 1968 and current events, served as the introduction to the most devastating part of his speech. & nbsp,
A king is said to have promised that anyone who performs an extraordinary deed did receive his daughter’s hand in marriage and third of his realm. The judges of the competition quickly concur that a fresh, honorable entrepreneur created the clock with 12 various performances, one for each hours, and won the prize.
From Moses’ commandments to Christianity and the fundamental pleasures of daily life— that elusive” common humanity ,” the 12 performances served as a reminder to the audience of the myths and roots of Western civilization.
A fresh young man shows up as the award is about to be given out, swinging an ax and slamming the clock. He asserts that by doing this, he has accomplished the most extraordinary thing. As is the case with the press and universities today, the courts and the populace concur and give the cretin the princess and half of the land.
The fantasy, however, has a happy end. The clock, which resembles a Phoenix, reappears as fresh on the ceremony day. The lump is rendered incomprehensible by the personalities in the 12 shows. The great, creative young man is rewarded. Andersen favorably comes to the conclusion that a work of art does not perish. Although its spirit may be broken, its good incarnation may become shattered.
The story ends with an assessment about what made the story’s conclusion really unbelievable( that Gerschenkron omitted mentioning ), despite the guests at the bridal claiming to have lived to witness the most remarkable issue. & nbsp, No one in the audience was envious of the” start-up” young man who built the clock and wed the princess, which is not the current way of thinking for many people, especially in academia.
Then Gerschenkron came to the conclusion that” the spirits of the staff will have to climb and destroy all this fugitive nonsense that is going around in this land.” He continued by saying that just as one cretin destroyed the clock in Andersen’s tale, the university is a precarious creation that fools may damage. & nbsp,
Maybe a storybook is needed to remind us of how frail civilization’s façade is, how delicate the institutions that support it are, and how simple it is to lose sight of the type of culture and character that can keep them going. & nbsp,
Reuven Brenner’s” How the 2008 Financial Crisis Did Not Change the World” by American Affairs, Spring 2019, is referenced in this article, which was recently published at Real Clear Markets.