Throwing Conservatives a Bone Won’t Fix What’s Wrong with Harvard

Conservative faculty are almost impossible to find at Harvard, and that absence has created a warped, often anti-intellectual, climate on campus. In response to the intense (and deserved) political and legal pressure the administration is applying to Harvard — particularly with regard to the presence of campus antisemitism and of a progressive, activist faculty intolerant of other views — there is now talk of Harvard’s creating a conservative center on campus to promote viewpoint diversity and fend off these concerns.

According to a university spokesperson, this center would, theoretically, “ensure exposure to the broadest ranges of perspectives on issues, and will not be partisan, but rather will model the use of evidence-based, rigorous logic and a willingness to engage with opposing views.”

SJ

About the Author

Samuel J. Abrams

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Abrams is currently on the Board of Directors of FIRE.

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Conservative faculty are almost impossible to find at Harvard, and that absence has created a warped, often anti-intellectual, climate on campus. In response to the intense (and deserved) political and legal pressure the administration is applying to Harvard — particularly with regard to the presence of campus antisemitism and of a progressive, activist faculty intolerant of other views — there is now talk of Harvard’s creating a conservative center on campus to promote viewpoint diversity and fend off these concerns.

According to a university spokesperson, this center would, theoretically, “ensure exposure to the broadest ranges of perspectives on issues, and will not be partisan, but rather will model the use of evidence-based, rigorous logic and a willingness to engage with opposing views.”

SJ

About the Author

Samuel J. Abrams

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Abrams is currently on the Board of Directors of FIRE.