By Jon Terry
December 12, 2023
Here’s the practical impact these University decisions will have: 0.
Nobody will die if the President(s) stay on. Nobody will die if they leave.
Similarly, nobody will thrive if the Universities hold fire, and nobody will thrive if they do not.
This is a bunch of stupid noise that obscures the real truth: these Universities care first and foremost not about Palestinians, Jews, or principles … they care about money.
Campus protests are not organic events brought about conscientious objectors. They are funded events, manipulated political machinations that will save not a single Palestinian or Jewish life, raise the consciousness of a single individual, nor impact a single political decision. Performative politics at it’s best (worst?).
Harvard, MIT, UPenn have succeeded, mostly, at showing us how completely unimportant their “missions” are. Support is splintered along the same fault lines they are in everyday life, and less-reputed colleges and universities. The arguments put forth by both sides are not brilliant and incisive, they are echoes of the same partisan anger and lack of reason we see in the general population. Their alumni and their money are taking sides, not leading reconciliation.
These are not “higher” institutions, they are echo chambers. They have no “higher” mission other than Money.
And oh my, the Money. 4 years at Harvard, UPenn or MIT will run you about $330,000. The median income of a UPenn family is $195,000, Harvard is $168,000, and MIT is $138,000. But don’t worry about the mounting student debt: over 65% of the students at each of these Universities come from families in the highest income bracket; less than 3.5% of their students come from families in the bottom 20% income bracket. It’s pay to play, for the uber rich, with just enough “poor” students to put lipstick on a pig. A Fat Pig.
An additional fun money fact: Harvard alumni lead the pack with 29 billionaires, while UPenn is a close second with 28. These are not wonderful success stories, Mark Cubans and Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. They are rich families staying rich through generational wealth, and a stacked deck.
U of Penn did not have a crisis of collective conscious, resulting in a reflective decision to oust their president. They pressed the panic button because donors pulled the purse strings. Nobody cares about Bill Ackman’s politics or philosophy at Harvard, but they sure care about his money.
If the Universities stood tall and represented a higher position of peace and reconciliation, a superior philosophy, truly higher thinking, this was a moment to validate their standing, to stand their ground, be intellectually superior, and lead. Instead, their students and faculty have simply chosen sides, and stoked the ugliness, like angry, uneducated pagans that know only emotion and fury.
They’ve shown us who they are, and more importantly, who they are not: they are not brilliant think tanks producing great leaders, philosophers, writers and scientists, taking us to higher places. Rather, they are very well-funded pedigree producers for families with a lot of money, and when challenged to stand for something other than money, they wither.
These decisions don’t mattTer. And unfortunately, unless it’s about lining up some great interviews right out of college, and raking in 6 figures on your first job, neither do these Universities.