Dear President Faust,
I am writing as a former Harvard University graduate to express my shock in relation to Harvard’s recent decision to abolish the word “Master” in academic titles in response to protests from students who lamented the word’s relationship to slavery.
One can only wonder at what comes next in the ridiculous quest for moral absolution by political correctness. Where will the “tyranny of penitence” now take us? Shall we next refuse payments made by “Mastercard”? Or expel anyone listening to Frank Sinatra because of the late crooner’s alleged ties with the mob? Are we going to burn all copies of Thomas L. Friedman’s “The World is Flat” lest the title offend the obese? Should the American constitution be abolished today because it condoned slavery when it was created in 1787? The levels of imbecility which can be reached by political correctness nowadays seem to have no limits.
As America’s oldest institution of higher learning, Harvard has a special responsibility in upholding the motto “Veritas” (truth) that ornates its shield since the time of President Josiah Quincy in 1836. Harvard should have no business apologizing to those who pervert the truth in order to find offence where none is intended or for the historical misdeeds of others. By removing venerable traditions that survived for eons in response to pressure from people who have little more to do with their time than professing to be offended by a word that derives from the Latin “magister” which Merriam-Webster reminds us was “a master or teacher in ancient Rome or at a medieval university”, Harvard is effectively betraying its purpose and values. What is worse than political correctness itself is to yield to its absurdities, and to forget that the line dividing political correctness from cowardice is thin as a hair.
In Singapore, primary school students are now required to clean their classrooms before class starts in the morning to build-up a sense of responsibility and shared duty. Any attempt to implement such a measure in the West today would likely see the politically correct establishment go up in arms to protest the “exploitation of children”. Political correctness is one of the most perverse and damaging scourges of post-modern Western civilization. It stands in the way of common sense, of good governance, of facing reality and paradoxically also stands in the way of cherished values of tolerance and freedom of expression.
I hope some of the 360 thousand Harvard alumni worldwide will join me in begging our university to reconsider its decision before the politically correct police decides that the title of “Dean” at the University should also be abolished because some said that Dean Martin had a drinking problem.
Sincerely,
Francesco M. Bongiovanni
Master in Business Administration
Harvard Business School alumnus
