Harvard Medical School has a new dean this year and some students view this as an opportunity to promote a new agenda at the revered institution.
According to these students, the study of medicine is severely lacking in social justice.
The Harvard Crimson reports:
Students Draft ‘Social Justice Agenda’ for New Medical DeanMore than a hundred gathered at the Medical School Wednesday to develop a list of priorities for the new dean to help make the school more diverse, convening after a semester of campus activism aimed at selecting a leader dedicated to the issue.The event was organized by students at the Medical and Dental School and included discussion groups in which students generated items for a “social justice agenda” they plan to deliver to the new dean George Q. Daley ’82, who was in attendance. They requested more representation of students on faculty search committees and increased diversity within the student body.The discussion among students, faculty, and staff comes months after student activists amplified efforts to influence the Medical School dean search, and after a year of heightened campus activism surrounding issues of diversity. In January, members of the Racial Justice Coalition, comprised of Medical and Dental School students, delivered a petition to University President Drew G. Faust calling on administrators to select a dean dedicated to increasing diversity. About 300 students signed the petition…At the event, Medical School professor and renowned humanitarian Paul Farmer gave an address highlighting the importance of student voices in decision-making.“The students drive a lot of the agenda here, and a lot of the dean’s agenda,” he said.Farmer spoke directly to Daley in response to a question about what a new dean can do to make widespread changes at the school.“We need a more diverse faculty—senior faculty,” Farmer said, calling the issue of faculty diversity among the “obvious” challenges for Daley.Daley, who will take over as dean in January 2017, spoke to the audience, his remarks unplanned.“I will listen. I will listen to every one of you,” he said. “And I will commit myself, on behalf of Paul [Farmer], on behalf of all of you, to aspire to do better.”
This is yet another example of the effort of the left to inject their politics into everything, even the science of medicine. Don’t be surprised twenty years from now if your doctor tells you he’s concerned about your blood pressure, then recommends you avoid microaggressions and spend more time in safe spaces.
Current tuition at Harvard Medical School? $58,000 per year.
Dr. Daley is a highly respected scientist with a background in stem cell research making him a natural fit to take over as Dean of HMS. He also seems to understand the environment he’s stepping into.
STAT News reported:
Daley’s appointment comes at a time when student groups have been calling on Harvard to pick a dean who will make social justice and racial diversity a priority.As a white man, “I don’t myself represent that diversity,” Daley said. But he said he wants Harvard Med’s faculty, students, and staff to reflect the global community the school aims to serve. Daley said he has tried to promote diversity in hiring for his 30-person lab, though he didn’t have a racial breakdown available.
Shouldn’t medical science be above this sort of thing? If there’s one area where absolutely everything should be merit based, it’s the business of saving lives.
Featured image is a screen cap.
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