Harvard students are invited to sign a kindness pledge

[Wildwood11]

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I find it stunning and more than a bit depressing that people on this thread assume that ‘high achievers’ or those who have the assets to get into Harvard must already possess, or even appreciate or understand good character traits. There is no reason to assume these are positively related.

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Gosh so much hoopla over ‘pressure to be kind’ yet who balks at the pressure Harvard - by way of their selection process- puts on students to be high achieving, hard working, smart, or perfectionistic (fill in the blank). Some values are okay to reinforce…others, not so much.

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<p>I certainly don’t believe there is absolutely any correlation between academic achievement and kindness, but Harvard’s selection process, in addition to the values you mention, attempts to reward things like kindness and respect for others, as discerned from essays and, especially, letters of recommendation. So while I’m sure the school has its fair share of selfish jerks, I think it is well understood by most there that those are not characteristics Harvard condones.</p>

<p>I also believe there are many ways to stress those good values in any organization, both verbally and through actions, but it seems to me asking people to sign a pledge is inappropriate. I would feel the same way about encouraging employees to sign this in a place of business. It is patronizing and useless.</p>