In her inaugural address at the installation of her presidency of Harvard University, Drew Gilpin Faust made the following assertions:
The “Veritas” in Harvard’s shield was originally intended to invoke the absolutes of divine revelation, the unassailable verities of Puritan religion. We understand it quite differently now. Truth is an aspiration, not a possession. Yet in this we — and all universities defined by the spirit of debate and free inquiry — challenge, and even threaten, those who would embrace unquestioned certainties. We must commit ourselves to the uncomfortable position of doubt, to the humility of always believing there is more to know, more to teach, more to understand.
Drew Gilpin Faust, “Inauguration of Drew Faust,” Harvard Magazine (November-December 2007), Accessed 9/5/2021, https://www.harvardmagazine.com/extras/inauguration-of-drew-faust.
One need only ask, Does Drew Faust possess the truth that truth is not a possession? Is it an unquestioned certainty for Drew Faust that we should challenge and even threaten those who would embrace unquestioned certainties? If this kind of thinking is what qualifies a person to be the president of Harvard University, then the university system of the US is much worse off than I imagined.
howe random 