Harvard Law Professor Mark Ramseyer wrote an email to a Harvard list admitting that he and other members of the Harvard faculty saw the increasing intolerance at the university but “did nothing” to stop it and “the Harvard that we have is the result of our own collective moral failure.”

“Harvard is a vastly less tolerant place than it was when I arrived in 1998,” Ramseyer, who is not Jewish, wrote. “The intolerance is a function of an increasingly large fraction of our colleagues. And we – the rest of us on the Harvard faculty – let it happen. The canceling, the punishments, the DEI bureaucracy, the DEI statements, the endless list that we could all recite – all this happened on our watch. We saw it happen, but we did nothing. We were too busy. We were scared to speak up. We – we on the faculty – let Harvard become what it is. The Harvard that we have is the result of our own collective moral failure.”

“The alumni who are furious are not trying to turn Harvard into something we do not want. They are trying to rescue Harvard from what we let it become.”

“We as a faculty failed. That is why the alumni are speaking up. That is why we formed the Council on Academic Freedom in the first place.”

Ramseyer, a Professor of Japanese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, grew up in Japan as the child of Mennonite missionary parents.

Bill Ackman, an outspoken Jewish Harvard alumnus and philanthropist, responded to Ramseyer’s letter by writing: “Finally, Harvard faculty are speaking up. Tenure was supposed to protect faculty so they could speak the truth. Unfortunately, canceling, shaming, and the inevitable accusation of being a racist have prevented faculty from speaking the truth.”

“Kudos to Harvard Law Professor Mark Ramseyer for his bravery. Perhaps he will inspire others.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)