U.S. News
Harvard Veteran Slams Decline of Western Values
Clear Facts
- James Hankins, a Harvard history professor for 40 years, publicly criticized the university’s focus on diversity quotas over merit.
- He claimed Harvard and similar institutions now exclude white males from admissions and hiring.
- Hankins is leaving Harvard to join the University of Florida, citing its commitment to Western civilization.
James Hankins announced his departure from Harvard, citing a shift away from academic merit to racial and gender quotas. He described the policies as damaging to the university’s standards and harming deserving candidates.
He shared that in 2020, “the university had collectively taken a knee during the Summer of Floyd.”
He wrote, “This turned out not to be empty virtue-signaling, as I expected, but had serious consequences for the way we conducted our affairs.”
Hankins reported being told informal policies prevented white males from being seriously considered for admission, noting this trend exists nationwide.
He observed, “The one exception I found to the general exclusion of white males had begun life as a female.”
Hankins expressed alarm at Harvard’s “shocking indifference” to antisemitism in 2023, criticizing the administration’s response.
He added that the university’s strict Covid protocols reflected a national pattern of overreach and disregard for individual rights.
More broadly, he argued that neglect for Western history undermines young Americans’ understanding of civilization, stating, “When you don’t teach the young what civilization is, it turns out, people become uncivilized.”
Hankins highlighted the contrast with China’s promotion of national identity, warning that Western history at Harvard is often “actively anti-Western.”
Recalling the 1990s, he said pressures to hire more women led Harvard to lower hiring standards, contributing to long-term decline.
Hankins is continuing his career at the University of Florida, which he praised for its dedication to teaching Western civilization and welcoming those “whose intersectional scores were too low for employment in legacy universities.”
He concluded, “for now, a better hope lies in building new institutions unencumbered by the corruption and self-hatred that infect the old.”
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