Harvard Proves Its Commitment to Open Discourse by Locking Down Replies So People Can't Talk to Them

Earlier Sam J. wrote about the statement by the Harvard Board throwing their support behind embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay. In their own defense Harvard's statement read in part: 'At Harvard, we champion open discourse and academic freedom...' But do they actually champion open discourse? You wouldn't know it from how they chose to roll out their statement on Twitter... by locking down replies to the post directing people to that statement.

The Harvard Corporation: “In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay.” https://t.co/stSvH4t1BP
— Harvard University (@Harvard) December 12, 2023

Maybe the administration at Harvard actually doesn't know what the words 'Open Discourse' mean, has anybody considered that possibility? It would explain a lot about what's been going on here, right?

Of course one of the fun things about Twitter is that, while you can lock replies, you can't lock people out from Quote Tweeting you unless you set your account entirely private. And since you can still quote tweet Harvard's statement Twitter users took full advantage, ratioing Harvard on raw quote tweet/like numbers in the process.

"At Harvard, we champion open discourse..." as Harvard bravely turns off replies for its statement on President Gay. https://t.co/b8TpjuYIwk pic.twitter.com/SIj8h5inos
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) December 12, 2023

Uhuh, see, when you say one thing but then do another thing that's the opposite of that thing you were saying? That's called being a liar and a hypocrite, there are words for that.

A lot of people are commenting on the relative merits of the statement itself, of course:

All Harvard students should plagiarize their work going forward https://t.co/WWni1vqGno
— Paulie (@pauliebignuts99) December 12, 2023

GP "In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of antisemitism, DEI, and illegally hiring on the basis of race and sex." https://t.co/XyQF4OGmq6
— The Gormogons (@Gormogons) December 12, 2023

I’m confused. The Crimson just reported that Gay’s plagiarism violated the university’s policies. But Harvard’s governing body, revealing that it has been conducting a secret review of these allegations (!), now says it’s not a violation. Guess the Crimson will need to retract! https://t.co/NDhAJs0oLY
— Aaron MacLean (@AaronBMacLean) December 12, 2023

But most people are just dunking on them for the logical disjointure of locking down replies while saying that they're all about free speech and open discourse.

One of the world’s most prestigious homes of learning, open discourse, and discovery - where ideas are born, challenged, and defended - had to turn off comments for this post.

Because they chose to defend a smug liar, sneering coward, brazen plagiarist, and proud racist. https://t.co/iKfeI00OYq
— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) December 12, 2023

Why did @Harvard lock replies? https://t.co/F371TPNeSP
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) December 12, 2023

You lock comments for one reason: you know you’re going to hear things you don’t want to. Harvard does not believe in a public exchange of ideas. Academia there is dead. https://t.co/vgZzOYtbFT
— Rebecca📖 (@Rquietlyreading) December 12, 2023

It's becoming harder and hard to argue with this sentiment. How long the alumni who care about the reputation of Harvard will continue to put up with this kind of insanity going on at their alma mater remains to be seen, but there can't be many who are looking at what's going on here and thinking that anything good is happening down in those hallowed halls of academe these days. If the legacy student applications start to dry up, and if the alumni donation money starts to dry up... well, that's the best chance you can hope for for a radical house cleaning to take place at Harvard University. We'll see how it all turns out.

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