Can Harvard Ever Recover? One Professor’s Inside View

Harvard historian James Hankins joins Shabbos Kestenbaum to explain why he’s leaving Harvard—from the collapse of Western civilization surveys to the rise of DEI-driven hiring, foreign-donor influence, and how university priorities shifted from excellence to activism. Hankins details the move from Western/US history to “global” frames, alleges systemic admissions bias, unpacks the two-book tenure standard and its demise, discusses China funding/Lieber fallout, and reacts to President Alan Garber’s promised reforms.