As a Kennedy School alum, I periodically receive solicitations for donations to Harvard. Obviously, I would no sooner give to Harvard than I would to NOW. Yet even I, who after two painful years in Cambridge should be an expert on the ridiculous bias that pervades everything Harvard does, was surprised at the gushing tone of this most recent email appeal. Here’s a quote from the email:
The depths of winter and recession are upon us, but we at the Harvard Kennedy School are valiantly resisting both. For me, it was a great help to attend the Obama Inaugural events in Washington. From where I stood, I could see movement on the Inaugural dais but couldn’t quite make out who was who up there. Never mind, I was at least there in sight of the Capitol along with 1.8 million other happy and hopeful people of every background, who stood smiling and tearful in the cold for hours and then paid rapt attention to every word of the Inaugural Address. It was truly majestic. I have never felt more American and, at the same time, more a citizen of the world.
Can one possibly imagine someone from Harvard fawning like this over the Inauguration–or any acheivement–of a Republican President? In any case, it tells me that the Kennedy Schools supposed quest for ideological diversity remains a farce.