The Red Line
The Doctrine of Academic Freedom
In July 1971, Harvard psychology professor Richard J. Herrnstein penned an article for Atlantic Monthly titled “I.Q.” in which he endorsed the theories of UC Berkeley psychologist Arthur Jensen, who had claimed that intelligence is almost entirely hereditary and varies by race. Herrnstein further argued that because intelligence was hereditary, social programs intended to establish a more egalitarian society were futile—he wrote that “social standing [is] based to some extent on inherited differences among people.”
Children in the Stacks
Mia You, a graduate student in English at the University of California at Berkeley, lives in Cambridge with her family, including her baby daughter. About a year ago, You walked into Widener Library to do research for a review of a new edition of “Little Women.” She planned to get a few books from the stacks—but was told, as she swiped her library card at the stack entrance, that she couldn’t enter: her baby daughter was strapped to her chest, and children under 16 are not allowed in the stacks.
Whither the Liberal Arts at Harvard?
Yet Harvard College may have to revisit its vision of itself as a “liberal arts college.” From the growing number of apparently pre-professional undergraduate classes to the expanding School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, our College does not seem to have a coherent idea of what exactly counts as a liberal art.
The Harvard Lobby
This referendum made sense for all the reasons stated by its sponsor, Harvard College Act on a DREAM. They argued in the UC’s “pro” statement that Harvard previously supported the DREAM Act, which has now become part of a larger comprehensive immigration bill; that “hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the country” already advocate for comprehensive immigration reform; that “if immigration reform fails to pass this year, the 40 undocumented students currently at the college will be left with no legal avenue to adjust their immigration status.” Yet I still find it interesting that there was such a strong student consensus that Harvard should support comprehensive immigration reform—which might include spending money to lobby US Congress.
The Harvard ID
A few years ago, Aviva Chomsky wrote a short essay on the oft-unquestioned privilege of holding a U.S. Passport. Chomsky notes, “When you get your U.S. passport in the mail, it comes with a flyer that says ‘With your U.S. passport, the World is Yours!’”—yet most who can easily obtain a U.S. passport don’t even realize the extensive access and legal protection they gain by holding one. I am afraid that in Harvard’s growing empire, the Harvard ID may come to take some of the same significance of the U.S. passport in allowing access to space and power.
