Word: mansfield
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Neil L. Rudenstine has good cause to be happy. His "Diversity and Learning" report, issued earlier this year, stamps Harvard as a firm supporter in the national debate over affirmative action. A deeply critical response in The Weekly Standard by government professor Harvey C. Mansfield draws accusations of racism and a protest from students. The president emerges as an enlightened defender of diversity in higher education, and Harvard's continued commitment to affirmative action is lauded by students and faculty. Something is very wrong with this picture...
...Mansfield's critique of affirmative action is unsubstantiated, insensitive and even bizarre. But in their (justified) haste to condemn his theatrical diatribe, students might wish to think twice before rushing to Rudenstine's defense. "Diversity and Learning" does do an admirable job at outlining the theoretical justifications for affirmative action. But behind Rudenstine's feel-good overview of diversity in higher education are glaring omissions: he ignores both the problematic history of affirmative-action programs at Harvard, and the decades-old legacy of dissatisfaction and frustration among its minority students. The report is not so much an assessment of "diversity...
...Mansfield attacks affirmative action at Harvard with an unjustified relish. His key assertion is that affirmative action harms "the morale of the institution, which depends almost entirely on its devotion to academic excellence." If there is a widespread sentiment that the university's academic excellence and morale are threatened by incapable minority students, such feelings have escaped this author's notice. Counselors and tutors repeatedly report that students find life at Harvard stressful, competitive and tiring. Few students have the time or energy to engage in philosophical speculation as to whether Harvard's "excellence" is eroding...
Also unsubstantiated is Mansfield's assertion that Harvard's excellence "is compromised by the desire for diversity." Nearly all of its minority graduates--ostensibly those who benefited from affirmative action in getting in--have gone on to successful and fulfulling careers. Unable to empirically demonstrate inferior performance by minority students while at Harvard, Mansfield instead lashes out against grade inflation, an entirely separate issue...
...addition, students who organized last Thursday's demonstration at Moral Reasoning 13: "Realism and Moralism," to protest Keenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. '53, publicized and built support for their protest at UNITE!, according to Emily K. Hobson '97, a participant in the rally...