"Transforming hereditary privilege into ‘merit,’ the existing system of educational selection, with the Big Three [Harvard, Princeton, and Yale] as its capstone, provides the appearance if not the substance of equality of opportunity. In so doing, it legitimates the established order as one that rewards ability over the prerogatives of birth. The problem with a ‘meritocracy,’ then, is not only that its ideals are routinely violated (though that is true), but also that it veils the power relations beneath it. For the definition of ‘merit,’ including the one that now prevails in America’s leading universities, always bears the imprint of the distribution of power in the larger society. Those who are able to define ‘merit’ will almost invariably possess more of it, and those with greater resources—cultural, economic and social—will generally be able to ensure that the educational system will deem their children more meritorious."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Jerome Karabel, The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton (Houghton Mifflin: 2005), pp. 549-550
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harvard_University
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Harvard University
51 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Harvard University →
Related Quotes
"The notice of appeal is a first step in the government’s effort to have the ruling overturned. It does not provide le…"
"Todd Wolfson, president of the AAUP, said the administration’s appeal is “just a continuation of their shameless camp…"
"Harvard has ruined more niggers than bad liquor."
"I am obliged to confess I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston tele…"
"I was never fortunate enough to attend Harvard. Yet after the school’s stunning surrender to President Trump’s $500 m…"
"Americans across the political spectrum are realizing that for-profit universities and media outlets are anything but…"
"Our founders praised the free press and free academic inquiry as on par with free elections in safeguarding the repub…"
"In the 160 years since the end of the Civil War, American institutions have largely fulfilled their job of protecting…"
"If future generations are to have that high regard for the achievement of the human mind which is essential to civili…"
"The Trump administration will appeal a federal judge’s order reversing billions of dollars in funding cuts to Harvard…"