The Fall of Academics at Harvard

[Beliavsky]

<p>[The</a> Fall of Academics at Harvard
The Harvard Crimson
February 28, 2013](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/2/28/fall-of-harvard-academics/]The”>The Harvard Crimson)

The [Government 1310 cheating] scandal speaks to a more systemic problem with the value Harvard places on its undergraduate education. The institution and the community condones, if not promotes, academic dishonesty, emphasizing prestige over intellectual growth. Academics are no longer the priority of the students or teachers at Harvard College.

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[ucbalumnus]

<p>“Fall” of academics?</p>

<p>While Harvard and similarly prestigious schools have always tried to maintain a level academic eliteness in a portion of their classes, historically many of them emphasized family background characteristics more in admissions (e.g. stronger legacy preferences, strong favoritism for SES-elite prep schools that were not necessarily academically elite in decades past). Also, the threshold for academic eliteness was lower in decades past, when the overall population of college-age people was smaller relative to the number of places in colleges.</p>

[mamabear1234]

<p>So academics are no longer a priority, yet yesterday you posted that they should expand their classes so more students could get this less than great education?</p>

[Beliavsky]

<p>“The food is terrible—and such small portions!”</p>

<p>Harvard has the resources to both improve its academics and increase the size of its student body.</p>

[thumper1]

<p>Why do you care? Other threads you have started knock higher education period. </p>

<p>I guess it is easy to criticize that which you don’t want, don’t value, or can’t attain.</p>

[Hunt]

<p>It’s an article written by a couple of undergraduates quoting some old profs on how different it was back in the good ol’ days, when giants walked the earth, etc. There are some dud teachers at Harvard, just as there are anywhere.</p>

[xiggi]

<p>Say it ain’t so, Hunt. I thought all of 'em were in Berkeley. ;)</p>

<p>On a serious note, doesn’t the junior-assistant-associate-whatever teacher who was behind the unveiling of the 1310 scandal easily qualify as a … dud? Wasn’t the embryo of the problem none else than a horrible syllabus and incomprehensible assignments? </p>

<p>Harvard’s hoopsters surely think so!</p>

[Seahorsesrock]

<p>The student body sure would increase if they gave them larger portions.</p>

[Hunt]

<p>What we need on threads like this is the poster who always used to argue that what the Ivies really need is big-time sports like Notre Dame.</p>

[musicamusica]

<p>Fall at Harvard is nice. Probably the loveliest season all year.</p>