“It came as a pleasure — you could say a joy,” said Government professor Harvey C. Mansfield ’53, who retires from his professorship in just a few days. Mansfield said he believes diversity should mean “a diversity of viewpoint,” and affirmative action “is a kind of euphemism” for racial discrimination.
“The basis of the whole decision is a simple proposition that your mother tells you: Two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said. “You can’t eliminate discrimination by practicing it.”
Mansfield said that the reason Harvard has upheld affirmative action until this point is because the University wants “to make amends for the sad and sorry history of slavery and segregation.”
“That’s all right, but it means racial discrimination against those who weren’t Black,” Mansfield said.
“You want to admit people you admire, not people you feel sorry for,” he added.
Mansfield said Harvard’s mission “to bring together the best students in the country” was “diluted and not forwarded” by practicing affirmative action in its admissions.
“Harvard has been in a bubble, and now — suddenly — it’s pricked,” he said.
As you can imagine: there isn't many Harvey Mansfield's on campus.
