The comments that follow this giggle worthy screed make me wonder if we shouldn't carve out some safe space for the offended, right next door to the oppressed.
Wow...color me naïve, but I was surprised by the Christian supremacist tone of this article. I had subscribed to this publication last year thinking I would find some quasi-moderate antidote to the largely one-sided nature of other Harvard publications - sad to see from this piece that the Christian Right on campus is at least as intolerant as the Left. I have no doubt other traditions older than yours find the Christian "tchotchkes" and "false" creation myths (discussed the Garden of Eden and Noah's Ark with a conservative scientist recently?) - not to mention a "virgin" birth and cross-dressing zombie deity risen from the dead - worth ridiculing. All this with a bit of cutesy Christ-killing antisemitism thrown in for good measure (there goes your boy Trump's fig leaf). It's no wonder modern Christianity is losing hearts and minds around the world. And yes, despite how you may profile me based on my chosen pseudonym, I was raised in your faith - and in your writing find reassurance that my decision to leave that church was the right one for me. I am, however, disheartened to have to write off The Salient as well; will continue looking for sanity and adherence to the Golden Rule elsewhere.
While I agree, as a conservative, that the DEI scenarios at Harvard have gone off a cliff and are in dire need of removal from all aspects of campus life, from every school at the university, I believe you have lost your argument through your mocking tone.
The Salient has executed great effort in the past few years to address the myriad issues facing Harvard and facing those who seek to acquire a world-class education there. By presenting fair and accurate articles that address the socio-academic existence on campus, the newspaper has resurrected the waning values of free speech, honor, truth, and academic inquisitiveness.
It's one thing to report on the cringeworthy graduation ceremony that seemingly bastardized every religion and culture in its wake for the sake of glorifying DEI. It's quite another to mock other religions from an elitist parapet. If you were attempting humor, it fell flat.
I do agree that when students come to this American university, they ought to be respectfully aware of our strong Judeo-Christian foundation as well as of our American laws and customs. However, that need not mean they ought to be mocked for being different.
As I saw it, the poor sense of respect for Christianity demonstrated by the speakers at the Harvard Baccalaureate 2025 was matched by the editor's evident derision of world religions and beliefs. It's not a question of the validity of other belief systems, rather, the manner of their inclusion in this graduation ceremony as if they were props.
As editor, it's best to lead by fine example. Snarky tear downs just seem like time-wasting jibber jabber one might expect from a high school publication and not from the Harvard Salient. Perhaps you want to run future write ups past the prior Editor in Chief and the Salient President.
I am not shooting down the paper and will continue to support it. I do hope those who carry its
torch forward do so with the respect, intellectual fairness, and responsibility it deserves.
As a former Salient editor and long-term supporter, I was appalled to see this mean-spirited article land in my inbox. It’s one thing to mock Harvard for its obsession with diversity, but this article crossed the line into outright sneering at all religions other than the author’s own brand of Christianity. Does the current Editor-in-Chief honestly believe that no non-Christians should be allowed to speak at Harvard events, or for that matter, that none do (or should) subscribe to his publication? I’m also curious as to whether the author spent his four years at Harvard avoiding all classes taught by female professors, who presumably lack the authority to teach him. The Salient has a vital role to play in exposing the Harvard community to conservative thought, but pieces like this are only going to disgust and turn off your potential readers.
I understand not agreeing with aspects of the ceremony, but there is no need to take a confrontational and mocking tone. The Salient should be a voice of moderation and free speech, not a platform that promotes hostility.
I have truly no idea what leads you to believe that the Salient is a moderate publication, but you could not be further from the truth. We are, and will continue to be, a socially and politically conservative institution.
I never asserted it was a moderate publication. I said it should be a voice of moderation. Meaning it should be measured, reasonable, and logical in its speech.
The God delusion runs strong in these poor idiots. I suspect they also still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. You’d hope that going to Hahvahd would help cure their mental illness, but it never seems to work.
Hilarious reporting. Keep up the good work. I skewered the Harvard Corporation here: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-get-into-harvard-gay-bobo-corporation
965088
My husband Harvard’ ‘57 is weeping and laughing In the next world. I’m glad we were spared this sad Harvard commencement. We used to love them!
The comments that follow this giggle worthy screed make me wonder if we shouldn't carve out some safe space for the offended, right next door to the oppressed.
We need Ackman to buy out the Harvard brand and start anew.
Two important cultures were left out of this ceremony.
1. The mainline Protestantism that founded both Harvard and the USA.
2. The culture of Excellence.
Wow...color me naïve, but I was surprised by the Christian supremacist tone of this article. I had subscribed to this publication last year thinking I would find some quasi-moderate antidote to the largely one-sided nature of other Harvard publications - sad to see from this piece that the Christian Right on campus is at least as intolerant as the Left. I have no doubt other traditions older than yours find the Christian "tchotchkes" and "false" creation myths (discussed the Garden of Eden and Noah's Ark with a conservative scientist recently?) - not to mention a "virgin" birth and cross-dressing zombie deity risen from the dead - worth ridiculing. All this with a bit of cutesy Christ-killing antisemitism thrown in for good measure (there goes your boy Trump's fig leaf). It's no wonder modern Christianity is losing hearts and minds around the world. And yes, despite how you may profile me based on my chosen pseudonym, I was raised in your faith - and in your writing find reassurance that my decision to leave that church was the right one for me. I am, however, disheartened to have to write off The Salient as well; will continue looking for sanity and adherence to the Golden Rule elsewhere.
I might add a third to this list:
3. agnostic
While I agree, as a conservative, that the DEI scenarios at Harvard have gone off a cliff and are in dire need of removal from all aspects of campus life, from every school at the university, I believe you have lost your argument through your mocking tone.
The Salient has executed great effort in the past few years to address the myriad issues facing Harvard and facing those who seek to acquire a world-class education there. By presenting fair and accurate articles that address the socio-academic existence on campus, the newspaper has resurrected the waning values of free speech, honor, truth, and academic inquisitiveness.
It's one thing to report on the cringeworthy graduation ceremony that seemingly bastardized every religion and culture in its wake for the sake of glorifying DEI. It's quite another to mock other religions from an elitist parapet. If you were attempting humor, it fell flat.
I do agree that when students come to this American university, they ought to be respectfully aware of our strong Judeo-Christian foundation as well as of our American laws and customs. However, that need not mean they ought to be mocked for being different.
As I saw it, the poor sense of respect for Christianity demonstrated by the speakers at the Harvard Baccalaureate 2025 was matched by the editor's evident derision of world religions and beliefs. It's not a question of the validity of other belief systems, rather, the manner of their inclusion in this graduation ceremony as if they were props.
As editor, it's best to lead by fine example. Snarky tear downs just seem like time-wasting jibber jabber one might expect from a high school publication and not from the Harvard Salient. Perhaps you want to run future write ups past the prior Editor in Chief and the Salient President.
I am not shooting down the paper and will continue to support it. I do hope those who carry its
torch forward do so with the respect, intellectual fairness, and responsibility it deserves.
As a former Salient editor and long-term supporter, I was appalled to see this mean-spirited article land in my inbox. It’s one thing to mock Harvard for its obsession with diversity, but this article crossed the line into outright sneering at all religions other than the author’s own brand of Christianity. Does the current Editor-in-Chief honestly believe that no non-Christians should be allowed to speak at Harvard events, or for that matter, that none do (or should) subscribe to his publication? I’m also curious as to whether the author spent his four years at Harvard avoiding all classes taught by female professors, who presumably lack the authority to teach him. The Salient has a vital role to play in exposing the Harvard community to conservative thought, but pieces like this are only going to disgust and turn off your potential readers.
I understand not agreeing with aspects of the ceremony, but there is no need to take a confrontational and mocking tone. The Salient should be a voice of moderation and free speech, not a platform that promotes hostility.
I have truly no idea what leads you to believe that the Salient is a moderate publication, but you could not be further from the truth. We are, and will continue to be, a socially and politically conservative institution.
I never asserted it was a moderate publication. I said it should be a voice of moderation. Meaning it should be measured, reasonable, and logical in its speech.
The God delusion runs strong in these poor idiots. I suspect they also still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. You’d hope that going to Hahvahd would help cure their mental illness, but it never seems to work.
I thought this died with the theosophical society.
This what happens to privileged people when they see their privilege threatened. And here the most privileged in the land!
Sad!