Not-so-great people tend to choose not-so-great people. In this, Harvard is like so many of our institutions, in and out of academia. If the best people aren’t getting to the top – if, in fact, the people at the top are often the worst people and are consistently mediocre – then your selection process is at fault. And if you don’t want to change the selection process, then you’re happy having your institutions run by bad leaders, with the inevitable results. That’s where we are all across America today.
What Harvard, along with those other institutions, needs is structural reform. I don’t know if that kind of reform can come from within, though the powerful role played by outsiders and donors suggests that there is some hope. I hope that the alumni who have been upset by the open embrace of antisemitism, rape, torture, and murder by students at our top universities won’t consider Gay’s sacrifice enough. They need to fix things.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member