Table of Contents
Truth in Advertising at Harvard
At ֭, one of our core beliefs is that universities must engage in truth in advertising. That is, if a university restricts and/or punishes student or faculty speech, it should say so openly so that prospective students can decide to attend that college or university with full information. Sadly, many colleges and universities do not do this. A look through ֭’s reveals that many universities with restrictive speech codes advertise themselves to prospective students as bastions of free expression. A striking example of this has just arisen: that “[a] Harvard brochure sent to thousands of prospective students included a doctored photo of the student newspaper's front page that removed a headline about the university president facing a confidence vote.” (You can view the doctored photo ). As you may know, Harvard President Larry Summers drew intense criticism for suggesting, in a during a Harvard academic conference, that innate gender differences might be one reason underlying women’s underrepresentation in math, science, and engineering departments. According to Harvard's dean of admissions and financial aid, “the decision to run the altered photo was a mistake made under deadline pressure by the school's admissions office and the Boston design firm that helped produce the brochure.” However, the facts remain that the photo was intentionally altered in the first place, and was sent out to thousands of prospective students. Is Harvard afraid to let prospective students know that its president is under fire for academic comments made at an academic conference?
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali will not submit
Podcast
Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in a culture of conformity. She was beaten and mutilated. She was told who she must marry. Eventually, she rebelled. "You don't speak up at first," she told us. "First you leave and you find a place of safety. It's...