ACTA's Must-Reads
« Accountability in Ohio | Main | Quote for the day »
Washington Post calls for reform at Harvard
Today's Washington Post features a magnificent editorial on Harvard's new president, Drew Gilpin Faust. The Post correctly labels the Harvard that Lawrence Summers tried to shake up "an institution that had become fossilized by tradition." Then it calls upon Faust to be more than a conciliatory voice and to push for real reform:
The shortcomings he saw still exist, and we hope Ms. Faust will show the vigor to attack them. Her challenges will include determining the proper balance between the sciences and the humanities, bringing diversity to the political outlook of the faculty, reinvigorating the undergraduate curriculum and promoting interdisciplinary cooperation among departments too concerned about turf.Ms. Faust's appointment was embraced by those who pointed to her knowledge of the campus, her administrative experience and her academic values. She also -- unlike her predecessor -- is credited with good people skills, which could give her an advantage in bringing about change, if she is so inclined. Will she be? We admire what she's accomplished, as reflected in her comments to a reporter for the New York Times: "I've always done more than I ever thought I would." At the same time, we hope she is already aiming for more than consensus and a restoration of peace.
That is not a misprint: The Washington Post has joined with ACTA in calling for "bringing diversity to the political outlook of the faculty." This is especially welcome news as our president travels to Montana, where a bill to require simple annual reports on universities' efforts in pursuit of intellectual diversity is being considered.
Further, the Post's call to "reinvigorat[e] the undergraduate curriculum" appears to endorse proposals like the one currently being considered at Harvard, which would require students to take courses in American history, math, and science. The plan also makes the right noises--while the devil will be in the details--about restoring a genuine core curriculum, rather than a hodgepodge of loose distribution requirements.
Posted by cmitchell at February 13, 2007 01:30 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.goactablog.org/blog/mt-tb.cgi/292