Posted January 25, 2016 6:07 PM ET; Last updated February 13, 2016 5:10 PM ET
Anti establishment candidates are popular even at universities.
[From article]
After Ron K. Unz ’83 flew cross country to turn in almost 300 signatures to Harvard’s doorstep, he and four other alumni—including five-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader—can now call themselves candidates for the Board of Overseers, the University’s second highest governing body.
[. . .]
The unorthodox group launched a bid for the Overseers in January on a two-pronged platform: eliminate tuition and reconsider admissions practices at Harvard College, two proposals that University President Drew G. Faust has staunchly opposed.
[. . .]
Along with Unz and Nader, physicist Stephen D. Hsu, conservative writer Stuart S. Taylor, Jr., and attorney Lee C. Cheng ’93 will appear on the ballot distributed to alumni in advance of the May election. While most Overseer candidates are nominated by the Harvard Alumni Association—it nominated eight this year—anyone with a Harvard degree can run for the Overseers.
[. . .]
Unz and his colleagues argue that the enormous size of Harvard’s endowment, which reached $37.6 billion last fiscal year, would provide more than enough money to cover the cost of tuition for every undergraduate student. They also suspect that the College’s admissions practices could be discriminatory against Asian American applicants, and they are calling for more detailed public data about Harvard’s admissions practices.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/11/outside-overseers-slate-qualify/
Unconventional Overseers Candidates Qualify for Ballot
By ANDREW M. DUEHREN and DAPHNE C. THOMPSON,
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
February 10, 2016
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[updated February 1, 2016 9:11 PM ET]
[From article]
February 10, 2016
* * *
[updated February 1, 2016 9:11 PM ET]
[From article]
Clad in a Harvard beanie, worn jeans, and sneakers, Ron K. Unz ’83 did not look like someone seeking to become one of the University’s most esteemed alumni and powerbrokers.
On Sunday morning, Unz, equipped with a series of charts and graphs detailing the annals of Harvard budgeting and admissions data, stood for hours outside the Harvard Coop and the Science Center. He had arrived in Cambridge early that morning by way of Palo Alto with a singular purpose: to formally launch a campaign for Harvard’s Board of Overseers.
Campaign organizer and spokesperson Ron K. Unz ‘83 displays university income statistics at the Science Center Plaza on Sunday afternoon. The “Free Harvard, Fair Harvard” campaign seeks to eliminate undergraduate tuition and make public how Harvard considers race in its admissions practices.
Per Unz’s estimate, he had collected almost 300 signatures over a series of weeks—shipping petitions to alumni across the country—to earn a spot on the ballot for Harvard’s second highest governing body. He arrived in the Square to collect a few more signatures; each member of his ticket needs 201 of them by Monday to enter the race.
His tactics are unconventional, but Unz—who took a red-eye flight from Palo Alto—is an unusual candidate. An outspoken conservative, Unz, along with four other Harvard alumni including five-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader, launched a campaign earlier this month on a dual-pronged ticket. They want to abolish undergraduate tuition and make public more detailed data about Harvard’s admissions process.
[. . .]
In their campaign materials, the prospective candidates argue that Harvard tuition should be free given the size of the University’s endowment—valued at $37.6 billion, the largest of any educational institution in the world. They say such a move would precipitate widespread publicity for Harvard and inspire students from lower income families to apply.
“If Harvard abolished tuition, I think you would have a much more regionally and socioeconomically diverse student body,” Unz said, standing at his post near the Coop.
The slate—which also includes physicist Stephen D. Hsu, conservative writer Stuart S. Taylor, Jr., and NewEgg’s Chief Legal Officer Lee C. Cheng ’93—also calls for greater transparency in undergraduate admissions. Together, they want more information about how the College chooses its students. They say they are suspicious that Harvard’s race-based affirmative action policies could, in effect, discriminate against Asian American students.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/1/Unz-arrives-cambridge-overseer/
Outside Overseers Candidate Arrives in Square, Petitions in Hand
Traveling to Boston, Ron K. Unz ’83 hopes to begin his candidacy for the Board of Overseers
By ANDREW M. DUEHREN and DAPHNE C. THOMPSON,
On Sunday morning, Unz, equipped with a series of charts and graphs detailing the annals of Harvard budgeting and admissions data, stood for hours outside the Harvard Coop and the Science Center. He had arrived in Cambridge early that morning by way of Palo Alto with a singular purpose: to formally launch a campaign for Harvard’s Board of Overseers.
Campaign organizer and spokesperson Ron K. Unz ‘83 displays university income statistics at the Science Center Plaza on Sunday afternoon. The “Free Harvard, Fair Harvard” campaign seeks to eliminate undergraduate tuition and make public how Harvard considers race in its admissions practices.
Per Unz’s estimate, he had collected almost 300 signatures over a series of weeks—shipping petitions to alumni across the country—to earn a spot on the ballot for Harvard’s second highest governing body. He arrived in the Square to collect a few more signatures; each member of his ticket needs 201 of them by Monday to enter the race.
His tactics are unconventional, but Unz—who took a red-eye flight from Palo Alto—is an unusual candidate. An outspoken conservative, Unz, along with four other Harvard alumni including five-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader, launched a campaign earlier this month on a dual-pronged ticket. They want to abolish undergraduate tuition and make public more detailed data about Harvard’s admissions process.
[. . .]
In their campaign materials, the prospective candidates argue that Harvard tuition should be free given the size of the University’s endowment—valued at $37.6 billion, the largest of any educational institution in the world. They say such a move would precipitate widespread publicity for Harvard and inspire students from lower income families to apply.
“If Harvard abolished tuition, I think you would have a much more regionally and socioeconomically diverse student body,” Unz said, standing at his post near the Coop.
The slate—which also includes physicist Stephen D. Hsu, conservative writer Stuart S. Taylor, Jr., and NewEgg’s Chief Legal Officer Lee C. Cheng ’93—also calls for greater transparency in undergraduate admissions. Together, they want more information about how the College chooses its students. They say they are suspicious that Harvard’s race-based affirmative action policies could, in effect, discriminate against Asian American students.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/2/1/Unz-arrives-cambridge-overseer/
Outside Overseers Candidate Arrives in Square, Petitions in Hand
Traveling to Boston, Ron K. Unz ’83 hopes to begin his candidacy for the Board of Overseers
By ANDREW M. DUEHREN and DAPHNE C. THOMPSON,
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
February 1, 2016
* * *
[From article]
Ron Unz, an alumnus, decided to use the university’s own system of alumni voting (there are currently 320,00 living holders of Harvard degrees eligible to vote) for the Board of Overseers to propose a slate of candidates pledged to end all preferences – racial, alumni, athletic – in the admissions process and go to pure meritocracy. The candidates would also pledge to end tuition entirely at Harvard, using its vast endowment instead, so as to make payment – and especially debt -- not a consideration.
[. . .]
With the East Coast blizzard slowing the mails and express services, the deadline is even tighter. I am awaiting delivery of my own copy of the petition to sign and return via Fedex.
If you happen to own a Harvard sheepskin:
…email us at petitions@FreeHarvard.org, and include your mailing address to obtain a petition for signing. If you can commit to quickly gathering an additional signature or two and also include your phone number, we will fedex you a petition.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/01/harvards_challenge_from_within_to_affirmative_action_.html
January 24, 2016
Harvard’s challenge from within to affirmative action
By Thomas Lifson
American Thinker
* * *
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/us/a-push-to-make-harvard-free-also-questions-the-role-of-race-in-admissions.html?_r=0
How Some Would Level the Playing Field: Free Harvard Degrees
The New York Times
By STEPHANIE SAULJAN. 14, 2016
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http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/1/15/outsider-overseers-tuition-admissions/
Outsider Slate for Board of Overseers Calls for Free Tuition, Questions Affirmative Action
A group of five bidding for nomination to Harvard's second-highest governing body argues the University should not charge for tuition and should offer more information on admissions
By ANDREW M. DUEHREN and DAPHNE C. THOMPSON
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/12100959/Harvard-should-be-free-for-all-students-says-businessman-campaigning-for-board.html
Harvard should be free for all students, says businessman campaigning for board
Ron Unz, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, is leading an unusual campaign for a leadership role at Harvard - claiming that the tuition fees of up to $44,000 a year should be scrapped
Telegraph (UK)
By Harriet Alexander, New York
1:04AM GMT 15 Jan 2016
February 1, 2016
* * *
[From article]
Ron Unz, an alumnus, decided to use the university’s own system of alumni voting (there are currently 320,00 living holders of Harvard degrees eligible to vote) for the Board of Overseers to propose a slate of candidates pledged to end all preferences – racial, alumni, athletic – in the admissions process and go to pure meritocracy. The candidates would also pledge to end tuition entirely at Harvard, using its vast endowment instead, so as to make payment – and especially debt -- not a consideration.
[. . .]
With the East Coast blizzard slowing the mails and express services, the deadline is even tighter. I am awaiting delivery of my own copy of the petition to sign and return via Fedex.
If you happen to own a Harvard sheepskin:
…email us at petitions@FreeHarvard.org, and include your mailing address to obtain a petition for signing. If you can commit to quickly gathering an additional signature or two and also include your phone number, we will fedex you a petition.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/01/harvards_challenge_from_within_to_affirmative_action_.html
January 24, 2016
Harvard’s challenge from within to affirmative action
By Thomas Lifson
American Thinker
* * *
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/us/a-push-to-make-harvard-free-also-questions-the-role-of-race-in-admissions.html?_r=0
How Some Would Level the Playing Field: Free Harvard Degrees
The New York Times
By STEPHANIE SAULJAN. 14, 2016
* * *
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/1/15/outsider-overseers-tuition-admissions/
Outsider Slate for Board of Overseers Calls for Free Tuition, Questions Affirmative Action
A group of five bidding for nomination to Harvard's second-highest governing body argues the University should not charge for tuition and should offer more information on admissions
By ANDREW M. DUEHREN and DAPHNE C. THOMPSON
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
January 15, 2016
* * *
* * *
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/12100959/Harvard-should-be-free-for-all-students-says-businessman-campaigning-for-board.html
Harvard should be free for all students, says businessman campaigning for board
Ron Unz, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, is leading an unusual campaign for a leadership role at Harvard - claiming that the tuition fees of up to $44,000 a year should be scrapped
Telegraph (UK)
By Harriet Alexander, New York
1:04AM GMT 15 Jan 2016
