Why Harvard’s Brand Reputation Is In Trouble

There is turmoil at Harvard, long considered the pinnacle of academic excellence. A series of mishaps in the past year has galvanized wide spread criticism and has created a disturbing perception of this historic university.  While the causes are varied and complex, most relate to a classic strategic mistake:  straying away from its core brand value, the ideal of truth, or as emblazoned on Harvard’s seal, “veritas”.

Harvard was the first college in America, established in 1636.  Its first commencement had nine graduates, and 134 years later, eight of its alumni were signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Harvard’s stature has grown since, guided by its focus on truth which has always defined its brand.

Blunders Snowballing

Harvard’s reputational damage started a year ago with the Supreme Court decision last June that struck down decades of its affirmation action policy which had become a model for higher education across the country.  In December, President Claudine Gay’s embarrassing, evasive answer to Republican Elsie Stefanik’s question of whether “genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s rules for bullying and harassment”, responding “it can be, depending on the context”, created a firestorm of criticism.  A few weeks later, accusations of plagiarism against Gay finally led to her resignation.

Meanwhile several other disturbing issues came to light, all in conflict with Harvard’s primary value of truth:

• Campus Turmoil – the October 7 Hamas attack produced an acute climate of anxiety, unrest and massive protests, leading to congressional investigations of antisemitism and Islamophobia. More than 30 student groups issued a pro-Palestinian statement blaming Israel for “all unfolding violence”.
• Gradeflation – in 2021 79% of students received A-range grades, compared to 60% a decade earlier, which raises a question of scholar integrity.
• Technology – critics cited Harvard’s long delayed building of a life-science center in nearby Allston, while MIT established a major bio-tech epicenter over four decades ago in Boston’s Kendall Square.
• HBS Ranking – its Business school standing dropped sharply in the most recent “Bloomberg Businessweek” survey, its lowest in nine years, and has fallen behind its competitors at Dartmouth, Yale and Cornell in job offers.
• Donors Bailing – the increasingly strident political situation at Harvard has alienated many big-money donors
• Student Interest Decline – in light of all these problems, it is not surprising that Harvard had a 17% drop in early decision applications this year.

While these problems pertain to Harvard, the overall perception of elite universities in general is similarly undergoing a major transformation.  Urged by hard-right Republicans, some scholars acknowledge that these exclusive schools have grown detached from ordinary Americans, as well as relinquishing their own academic and meritocratic values.  Robert George, a legal scholar at Princeton, said “America’s great universities are losing the public’s trust”.

Growing Doubts For Other Universities

This growing skepticism has contributed to the increasing divisiveness in the U.S. as the perceived value of an education at these top universities becomes more questionable:

• The skyrocketing cost of education, over $100,000 per year now at some universities, has become too much for many families
• Declining appeal to foreign students – twenty years ago, 60% of foreigners were studying in English-speaking countries, but now it is 40% (source: Economist)
• Faculty is too one-sided politically. A UCLA survey indicated the share of faculty on the political left rose from 40% in 1990 to 60% in 2017.  A survey by Harvard’s student newspaper in 2023 found only 3% of the faculty described themselves as conservative, versus 75% calling themselves liberal.
• Prestigious private colleges often have more than 30 trustees, frequently selected as a reward for donations, but many do not have the time nor commitment to provide proper oversight.

Yale management guru, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, summed up the dilemma for Harvard (and implicitly for other elite schools):  “by allowing the erosion of the school’s public reputation for integrity and truth and a breakdown of trust internally, the board was negligent in attending to the priorities of key stakeholders:  students, faculty, staff and alumni”.  Harvard must return to its core brand values by practicing what it preaches about openness and truth.