POLL: Over 40% of Harvard profs say that school's standing is worsening

Harvard University’s student newspaper discovered that over 40 percent of faculty members believe that the school’s standing is worsening.

The Crimson asked professors “how they believe the University’s standing within higher education has changed over the past decade.” Professors were largely pessimistic about the school’s status: 41 percent say it has fallen, 53 percent say it is unchanged, and a mere 6 percent say it has risen.

Over 70 percent of professors — 34 percent of whom “strongly” agreed — believe that grade inflation is a “prevalent” issue.

Harvard University — which, established in 1636, is the oldest university in the United States — has consistently topped rankings of national universities. Presently, it is listed only behind Princeton University in US News and World Report’s rankings.

Campus Reform reported in 2013 that the most common grade at Harvard was an “A-.” At the time, Harvey Mansfield — who has taught at Harvard since 1962 — said that the grade inflation “represents a failure on the part of this faculty and its leadership to maintain our academic standards.”

Mansfield told Campus Reform that he agrees with the recent poll’s results.

“Harvard’s standing has fallen, and I would blame the three evils of affirmative action, grade inflation, and political correctness,” he said. “Affirmative action makes everyone doubt that decisions of hiring and admissions are based on merit. Grade inflation makes everyone doubt that standards of excellence are being upheld. Political correctness breeds an atmosphere of suspicion and aggressive intolerance.”

[RELATED: The most common grade at Harvard is an A-, says elite school’s dean]

Indeed, even as concern has grown over declining standards at the school, Harvard has been accused of rejecting thousands of high-achieving Asian-American students through its use of affirmative action.

[RELATED: Students for Fair Admissions appeals Harvard case to Supreme Court, expands challenge to Yale]

Campus Reform has also closely reported on Harvard’s embrace of American leftism.

A Harvard Medical School social media account recently referred to women using the term “birthing people.”

[RELATED: Harvard calls women ‘birthing people’ because ‘not all who give birth’ are women]

After thousands of Twitter users mocked the assertion, Harvard doubled down: “The webinar panelists used the term ‘birthing person’ to include those who identify as non-binary or transgender because not all who give birth identify as ‘women’ or ‘girls.’ We understand the reactions to this terminology and in no way meant for it to erase or dehumanize women.”

Harvard is the birthplace of the “Implicit Bias” test — an exam that attempts to unveil unconscious racism within an individual’s thinking. Though experts routinely criticize the test as inherently flawed, many universities rely upon its data to claim that various aspects of American life are systemically racist.

[RELATED: UChicago endorses Harvard’s ‘flawed’ ‘Implicit Bias’ test]

Earlier this year, students at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School sent an open letter to administrators demanding a mandatory anti-racism course and a full “audit” of the curriculum using an “anti-racist, anti-colonial lens.”

[RELATED: Harvard students push for curriculum ‘audit,’ mandatory ‘anti-racism’ courses]

Campus Reform reached out to Harvard University for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.