After dedicating 40 years to Harvard University, a historian and professor has announced his departure, citing the institution’s growing focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in its admissions process as a key reason for his decision.
James Hankins, a 70-year-old professor, expressed his concerns over what he perceives as Harvard’s shift in admissions priorities since the George Floyd protests. He argues that the university has begun favoring diverse candidates over what he describes as “brilliant” white male students.
In a detailed essay published in Compact, Hankins explained his reasons for leaving Harvard and his plans to join the Hamilton School of Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.
Hankins’ decision to leave was made in 2021, influenced by Harvard’s stringent COVID-19 policies and the perceived changes in its admission standards following the societal upheaval after George Floyd’s death.
The professor had entered into a four-year retirement plan in the fall of 2021, which has recently concluded, marking the end of his tenure at Harvard.
Reflecting on his experiences, Hankins recounted a situation from the fall of 2020. He encountered an exceptional candidate who seemed ideally suited for Harvard’s program, underscoring his concerns about the current admissions approach.
‘In past years this candidate would have risen immediately to the top of the applicant pool. In 2021, however, I was told informally by a member of the admissions committee that “that” (meaning admitting a white male) was “not happening this year”.”
The professor then provided another example of a ‘certifiably brilliant undergraduate [he] had tutored,’ who also got the short end of alleged changes to admission standards.
James Hankins, 70, is a historian who specializes in Western history and has led a 40-year career at Harvard
Hankins explained that he decided to retire from Harvard back in 2021, in light of the university’s strict COVID policies, such as mandatory masks and Zoom seminars
Hankins also cited the alleged changes in admission standards that resulted from the George Floyd protests and led to diversity being favored over qualification
Hankins explained that the young man, who was white, was ‘the best student at Harvard,’ and had won the prize for graduating senior with the best overall academic record.
Despite the student’s qualifications, he claimed he was rejected from every graduate program he applied to in 2021.
When Hankins called friends and colleagues at different universities to figure out why the young man was rejected, ‘everywhere it was the same story,’ he wrote.
‘Graduate admissions committees around the country had been following the same unspoken protocol as ours,’ the professor explained.
‘The one exception I found to the general exclusion of white males had begun life as a female.’
Hankins also criticized Harvard’s strict pandemic-era policies, which he characterized as ‘tyrannous invasions of private life’.
He lamented that professors were told they must lecture in masks and give seminars on Zoom and that ‘neither practice accorded with [his] idea of liberal education’.
Hankins signed a four-year retirement contract in 2021 but claimed he was frustrated by seeing highly qualified white male candidates get shunted in favor of less-qualified, but more diverse applicants
Hankins also said that Harvard displayed ‘shocking indifference to the anti-Semitic demonstrations following the October 7 atrocities.’ The red hand symbol on the sign in this picture is widely considered antisemitic because of its association with the Ramallah lynching in 2000
The professor also took aim at Harvard’s response to the Gaza war protests that rocked campuses across the country in 2023.
He said the university displayed ‘shocking indifference to the anti-Semitic demonstrations following the October 7 atrocities’.
But he also highlighted that a silver lining emerged when former Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned after being grilled by Congress and was replaced by Alan Garber.
‘Harvard, I believe, is now on a better course under its current president,’ Hankins wrote.
However, he added that he believed he can make ‘far better use’ of his time at his new college.
Hankins also accused the university of abandoning teaching on Western history in favor of a more global outlook.
He claimed that Harvard has not hired a tenured historian in a Western field since 2012.
Since then the university has lost eight distinguished professors in Western fields to death, retirement or other universities, according to Hankins.
Hankins characterized Harvard’s strict pandemic-era policies as ‘tyrannous invasions of private life’
Harvard has lost eight tenured professors in Western fields to death, retirement or other universities since 2012 and has not hired a new one, according to Hankins who says it is symptomatic of the shift away from teaching Western history. The university’s history department building, called Robinson Hall, is pictured here
‘I will be the ninth,’ Hankins wrote, ‘and I am not expecting to be replaced’.
His new academic home in Florida was founded just four years ago and has hired 28 ‘outstanding scholars’ who are historians in Western fields, according to the professor.
‘Many come from among the dreaded population of white males whose intersectional scores were too low for employment in legacy universities,’ Hankins wrote.
He blamed the perceived shift away from Western history for ‘part of the reason why the younger generation finds itself in a state of moral and intellectual disorientation’.
‘When late liberal pedagogy replaced Western civilization courses with global history, serious harm was done to the socialization of young Americans,’ Hankins wrote.
‘When you don’t teach the young what civilization is, it turns out, people become uncivilized.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Harvard University for comment in regard to Hankins’s claims and was advised a response may be delayed due to the holiday period.
