Is the right’s critique of Harvard anti-intellectual?

[Valin]

Power Line:

Paul Mirengoff

3/3/13

 

I agree with John’s contention, sparked by an editorial in the Harvard Crimson, that populist anti-intellectualism isn’t a wise approach for conservatives to adopt. But I want to add that the editorial in question doesn’t show that the conservative critique of Harvard rests on populist anti-intellectualism.

 

The Crimson cites three conservative “attacks” on Harvard. The first came from Ted Cruz, who complained that, during his time at Harvard Law School, the faculty contained a sizeable number of Marxist professors. This beef isn’t anti-intellectual. There is no inconsistency between intellectualism and the belief that a law school faculty shouldn’t include many Marxists.

 

The Crimson sniffs that “education gives people new ideas that they might not have otherwise had.” But even assuming that Marxism is a new idea that won’t have occurred to law students during their undergraduate years, one or two Marxist law school faculty members would be sufficient for that purpose. And the Crimson makes no mention of Cruz’s complaint that, in his time, the Harvard Law School faculty was nearly devoid of openly conservative professors.

 

(Snip)