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Entry: From the inbox: Open letter to Drew Faust
A more fundamental question would be: is there really anything a person learns at KSG that would make them either a better government employee, or a better elected official? Or is this simply one more example of credentialism, with the $130,000 being the toll that must be paid to the troll before he will open the gate?
Posted by david foster at April 7, 2008 11:13 AM
Seems like a real easy choice to me.
Posted by Mike at April 7, 2008 11:22 AM
I agree that Harvard's vast endowment, and the way it uses it, is problematic.
However, in this case, if the net result is that this whiny person, who is of the "working for the government is noble, working to provide goods or services that others will willingly pay money for is grubby" mentality, does NOT go into government service, then I think Harvard has done us all a favor.
Posted by Kirk Parker at April 7, 2008 11:40 AM
David -- In most of the real world, you don't need a KSG degree to work in public service. There is no "troll". If people are willing to shell out this kind of dough to go to KSG, then more power to KSG. I don't feel sorry for these self-pitying "victims". As I said in my own post, it is an easy choice. Anyone who can't make it, I don't especially want in a responsible public position.
And if there really is a "troll" for some types of public service positions, I would question the intrinsic value of those positions.
Posted by Mike at April 7, 2008 11:59 AM
Ms. O'Connor,
I too was just accepted to KSG's MPP program, but do not find myself in your position since the university was able to offer me a very generous scholarship as a PPIA fellow.
Not all new KSG admits are in your same financial situation. While I am sorry that attending KSG may be a financial burden for you, this is not the case for all applicants. Harvard University should continue to be applauded for its commitment to offering unparalleled financial aid for its undergraduates, and I am pleased to be attending the institution in the fall.
Posted by Stacey at April 8, 2008 5:18 PM
Stacey,
Just to clarify: I am not the author of the letter to Drew Faust, and have no plans to attend KSG. My post reprints a letter that was sent to me anonymously via email, with the clear hope on the part of the writer that I would post it here.
--Erin
Posted by Erin O'Connor at April 8, 2008 5:38 PM
Even if we were to accept the premise that KSG has an obligation to ensure that its students have the ability to work in the public sector after graduation, this girl's attitude is all wrong. The correct way to implement a scholarship for those students is in loan repayment (done frequently in the legal profession): those students who go into low-paying jobs get assistance in paying back the loans, which ensures that you don't give financial aid to students who end up making a mint.
Maybe I've read too much Ayn Rand, but I fail to see the problem in paying for something worthwhile. Should the professors be obligated to teach her for less money? The electric company to not be reimbursed for the money spent to heat the buildings in the winter? Or does this woman feel entitled to a part of the endowment - as if she has a moral claim to the checkbooks of Harvard alumni?
Posted by theobromophile at April 11, 2008 11:30 AM
Stacey, you would be well advised to adjust your attitude. I attended Harvard College as an undergrad, and last year applied to two Harvard graduate programs. I was admitted to both, but received a full fellowship plus stipend to only one of them, which I'm now completing. I am in a public-service oriented field, and the vast majority of my classmates are not on fellowships and are making large tuition payments to attend Harvard. I certainly do not wave it in my colleagues' faces that I have a fellowship and they don't, because to be honest my classmates are all extremely bright and just as hard-working as I am. I feel that I lucked out in getting a scholarship that the vast majority of people didn't get, and a lot of my getting the fellowship was just that, luck in that the admissions committee happened to like what I had to say a tiny bit better than what someone else said that day. I think the letter writer is correct in that Harvard has a long way to go in facilitating public service careers for its graduates.
Posted by Julia at May 13, 2008 6:02 PM