OPINION:
The Harvard University board hired Claudine Gay as president because her vision for the school’s future is exactly what the board has in mind (“Institutions of ‘higher learning’: Harvard President Claudine Gay is a symptom, not the cause,” web, Jan. 3).
Here is that vision, as laid out in her 2020 memo to the Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences:
“Our engagement in anti-racist action and the infusion of inclusive practices into all aspects of our teaching and research mission reflect a new sense of institutional responsibility and will require sustained effort over time. … The work of racial justice is not a one-time project. … Collectively, we are the authors of Harvard’s future.”
Unless Harvard commits to a different vision for its future and indicates same by replacing every member of its board, there is little reason to be hopeful. Ms. Gay remains at Harvard as a professor and will continue to receive the same salary (nearly $900,000) she received as president.
In contrast to Ms. Gay and the board, current Harvard Law School student and stage 4 cancer survivor Mussab Ali does understand what an education is supposed to provide. He wrote that “my journey has taught me to embody Harvard’s mission as soon as I leave its gates — to serve others by spreading the quest for veritas, the pursuit of the truth. Our time on Earth is too short to do otherwise.”
We would all do well to reflect on what was once — and must again become — Harvard’s real “institutional responsibility.” It is inscribed on Harvard’s Dexter Gate: “Enter to grow in wisdom. Depart to better serve thy country and thy kind.”
JULIA LUTCH
Davis, California
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