Harvard Privilege

Ross Douthat’s Privilege is the latest in what is becoming an increasingly crowded genre, young conservative authors recalling their college days and offering numerous and insightful criticisms of their alma maters. Starting with William F. Buckley Jr.’s God and Man at Yale in 1951, a number of conservative writers have penned scathing critiques of the ideological bias and curriculum shortcomings prevalent within the schools they attended. Some of these books include Benjamin Hart’s Poisoned Ivy, the Diversity Myth by David Sacks and Peter Thiel , The Diversity Hoax, and Ben Shapiro’s Brainwashed.

However, Privilege is somewhat different than these aforementioned titles. It offers a reader considerably more than a litany of conservative complaints against a predominately liberal university. Instead, Douthat argues that Harvard’s primary problem has less to do with ideology than the fact that Harvard has lost its focus as an institution. Douthat argues that Harvard is no longer an institution dedicated to higher learning, academic excellence, and intellectual curiosity. Instead, Harvard is primarily a vehicle for transmitting privilege, “an incubator for an American ruling class that is smug, self satisfied.”

Indeed, some conservative readers may find some aspects of the book disappointing. Douthat certainly does not spare the political left from criticism throughout the book. However, the main culprits of Harvard’s academic shortcomings are to be found elsewhere, most notably in the lack of institutional focus, coupled with Harvard’s all too eager desire to cater to the wishes of both students and faculty.

For instance, grade inflation is not primarily the result of racial preferences, a frivolous curriculum, or a general attack on merit. Instead giving inflated grades serves the interests of both faculty and students. Students get the high grades they desire for corporate recruiting and graduate school admissions, and faculty do not have to invest time and energy dealing with student complaints.

Similarly, the eroding of Harvard’s core curriculum is not mainly the consequence of a multicultural assault on Western culture. Instead,
Harvard students themselves are leaving the humanities and seeking degrees in the sciences and economics because they feel that such degrees will allow them to obtain more compensation upon graduation.

Furthermore faculty prefer teaching classes about their narrow specialties rather than classes on the Great Books. This is because such narrower classes require less preparation and grant them more time for research.

In addition to providing a critique of Harvard as an institution, Douthat chronicles his own history as a student and provides insights into the academic and social scene that faces a student attending a prestigious university. Indeed, Douthat’s portrayal of college life is likely far more realistic and accurate that what is portrayed in books such as Tom Wolfe’s I am Charlotte Simmons. Indeed, contemporary college life at a top university may not nearly as promiscuous or as libertine as Wolfe suggests. However, Douthat’s account of how many opposite sex relationships revolve around self-interest and self-gratification rather than romance is troubling nonetheless.

Furthermore, the reader may be somewhat surprised to learn that many
Harvard students that Douthat describes seem neither academically oriented nor intellectually curious. Indeed, the grade inflation and curriculum shortcomings make it possible for many undergraduates to devote considerable amounts of time to pursuing prestigious internships, competing for spots in selective social organizations, and engaging in other activities aimed at winning the approval and esteem of their classmates. Indeed, academics has taken a backseat to self promotion in the lives of countless Harvard undergraduates.

Of course, Privilege does not cast Harvard in an entirely negative light. The reader gets to hear vivid descriptions of outstanding faculty, insightful students, and the countless opportunities Harvard
extends to its undergraduates. Furthermore, Harvard’s visibility and
the presence of a handful of outspoken conservatives on the faculty,
most notably government professor Harvey Mansfield, mute blatant ideological double standards to an extent larger than what Douthat probably realizes.

Furthermore, help seems to have arrived from an unlikely source. Many observers from both on and off campus did not expect much from former
Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers when he became President of Harvard in 2001. However, Summers has been a pleasant surprise, frequently meeting with students, making favorable statements about ROTC, and undertaking a substantive curriculum review. Solving the numerous problems of Harvard may well beyond his capacity of President Summers. However, by detailing some of Harvard’s academic and social
shortcomings, Douthat has already performed an extremely valuable experience for his readers.

Michael New is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama. He served as a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard from 2002 to 2004.