{"id":138863,"date":"2023-12-13T00:04:54","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T05:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=138863"},"modified":"2023-12-12T16:21:53","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T21:21:53","slug":"of-course-harvards-president-is-a-diversity-hire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/of-course-harvards-president-is-a-diversity-hire\/","title":{"rendered":"Of course Harvard\u2019s president is a diversity hire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are we supposed to believe Harvard factors diversity into everything *but* its presidential selection?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Harvard University President Claudine Gay was obviously a diversity hire.<\/p>\n

Billionaire Bill Ackman, a vocal critic of his alma mater, said he confirmed<\/a> with \u201cmultiple sources,\u201d that the presidential search committee \u201cexcluded non-DEI eligible candidates from the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news comes at the same time Gay (pictured<\/em>) is facing dozens of accusations for plagiarism and is under fire for her response<\/a> to antisemitism on campus.<\/p>\n

But even without Ackman\u2019s memo, simple logic should show that Harvard University would select someone based on their identity, not on their scholarship and ability to lead a major institution. Gay is probably a nice and intelligent person. That does not mean she was the best choice for the job.<\/p>\n

The Ivy League university factors diversity into every \u201cfacet\u201d of its life – it would not make sense it would do so except in the selection of its leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur diversity has enriched every facet of the work that we do at Harvard, and will continue to strengthen our community in the years to come,\u201d Provost Alan Garber states on the university website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we strive to create an environment that values diversity, promotes an inclusive culture, and establishes a profound sense of belonging for each member of our community,\u201d the university states on its diversity page.<\/p>\n

Its job postings reflect its commitment to factor identity into hiring. A job posting<\/a> for a theoretic quantum science professor position says the university \u201cstrongly welcome[s] applications from persons from underrepresented groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences \u201cis dedicated to building a diverse and welcoming community, and we strongly encourage applications from historically underrepresented groups.\u201d This is from a job posting<\/a> for a postdoctoral fellow in atmospheric science engineering.<\/p>\n

The Crimson<\/em>, Harvard\u2019s student newspaper, saw Gay as a diversity hire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe momentousness of her very appointment feels as though it heralds the start of a more progressive era at Harvard,\u201d the editorial board wrote<\/a>. This new era is \u201cone that understands representation, diversity, and inclusion as essential to creating the kind of vibrant intellectual community that can in turn create a better world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvard\u2019s student newspaper has also covered how \u201cdiversity\u201d (i.e. being a black woman), would factor into the presidential search process. \u201cFormer Harvard administrators and higher education experts expect a consideration of candidate diversity to feature in the search, but not as a determinative factor,\u201d The Crimson<\/em> reported<\/a> in September 2022 in an article about the search process.<\/p>\n

The paper then quoted former Harvard Provost Harvey Fineberg who \u201cwrote that he anticipates the search committee \u2018will likely be attentive\u2019 to candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]he committee will not be making any \u2018symbolic social statement\u2019 with its decision: it will seek the best candidate for the job, and that person\u2019s sex, race or ethnicity will be whatever it is,\u201d the former provost told The Crimson<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Those two statements are in tension.<\/p>\n

Diversity cannot be a \u201cfeature\u201d without serving as a determining factor. It is true Harvard, if forced to choose between a racial minority without a high school diploma and a white man with a doctorate, would probably choose the latter.<\/p>\n

But if it came down to a black woman with degrees from elite universities and a white man with degrees from the same institutions, everything points to Harvard selecting the former.<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Diversity statements used to cull applicant pool<\/a><\/p>\n

Which leads to another piece of evidence that Gay was a diversity hire – her lack of academic prowess.<\/p>\n

The same December 2022 editorial that praised Gay also addressed the idea that she, and other racial minorities \u201care dismissed as diversity hires.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGay has already received criticisms of the former variety for an alleged lack of academic merit and administrative experience,\u201d The Crimson<\/em> editorial board wrote. \u201cThese denouncements are categorically untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n

It then went on to list her degrees from Stanford and Harvard, as well as various prizes she won for academic papers. (She won a prize for her doctoral thesis<\/a>, which included plagiarized portions).<\/p>\n

It is true she won awards for her academic work as a student. Uncle Rico might have been a great high school football player, too. What matters in academia is what you do after graduating.<\/p>\n

Evolutionary biologist Colin Wright has pointed out<\/a> Gay\u2019s \u201ch-index (a widely used metric that measures a scholar’s productivity and impact) is 10.\u201d (Her predecessor Lawrence Bacow has an h-index<\/a> of 13 but has been cited more than 2,500 times. Gay has been cited<\/a> only 171 times).<\/p>\n

Purely academic achievements are not enough to be a university president – soft skills like negotiation and communication are also important. But Gay, who graduated with her doctorate from Harvard in 1998, is clearly not a scholar.<\/p>\n

The h-index \u201ccaptures research output based on the total number of publications and the total number of citations to those works, providing a focused snapshot of an individual\u2019s research performance,\u201d according to the University of Waterloo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By comparison, professors in political science at less prestigious universities have higher scores than Gay. One professor<\/a> at nearby Northeastern University, who only obtained her doctorate in 2017, has an h-index of 16.<\/p>\n

Another political science professor at University of Massachusetts-Boston, who received her doctorate in 2003, has an h-index<\/a> of 12.<\/p>\n

Harvard is now paying the price for its decision to place diversity above merit.<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Ohio State University prioritized DEI over merit in hiring<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Harvard University\/YouTube<\/p>\n

\n