Attacking the ElitesAttacking the Elites

A former Harvard president reflects on how elite universities are responding to critiques from the left and the right, and how they can do better

Elite American universities, such as Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, are admired throughout the world. They attract highly qualified applicants, and most of their graduates go on to lead successful lives. Scientists at elite universities contribute to the knowledge that benefits the public in countless ways, such as helping to develop the vaccines protecting against COVID-19.

These same twenty-odd universities, however, are beset by criticism from both sides of America's ideological divide. Liberals press them to enroll more low-income students and to use their reputations and endowments to induce corporations to adopt more just, equitable, and ecological business models. Conservative politicians accuse the universities' predominantly liberal faculty of indoctrinating students. The Supreme Court has recently prohibited universities from giving preference to Black and Hispanic applicants for admission, sparking a wider debate over the policies of elite universities in choosing their student body.

Drawing on over fifty years of experience as a student, professor, dean, and president of Harvard University, Derek Bok examines the current disputes involving admissions, diversity, academic freedom and political correctness, curriculum and teaching, and even athletics in order to determine which complaints are unsubstantiated, which are valid, and how elite universities can best respond to their critics.