Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
“One of the more embarrassing and socially awkward things a human being can do is admit he went to Harvard” according to Business Insider:
That’s right, it’s probably among the worst #FirstWorldProblems a person can have, because once you drop the “H-Bomb” people look at you differently, treat you differently, and think of you differently. Yup, Harvard alumni are truly embarrassed about fessing up to their alma mater, The Boston Globe revealed…
The Globe interviewed dozens of alumni who all admit when asked some derivative of “Where did you go to college?” they answer, “Oh, near Boston.”
Harvard, for its part, is taking steps to prevent the social indiscretion of taking about Harvard publicly with the unwashed masses. This week, in fact, the university is holding the following event:
Home from Harvard for the Holidays: Revisiting Relationships with Family and Friends
Wednesday, December 5, 1:00-2:30pm
5 Linden Street
How do I talk about Harvard at home? Will my friends and family think I’ve changed? Will I still fit in? This workshop provides an opportunity to describe and explore your experiences and questions as you anticipate going home. To register, email slshin@bsc.harvard.edu or cshindler@bsc.harvard.edu.
Is Harvard acknowledging that its students, upon being admitted into the hallowed crimson kingdom, become so socially inept that they require workshop assistance to socialize with their non-Harvard friends and family? Or is this event a tacit endorsement of the assumption, which embarrasses Harvard students and alumni so, that they really are better than and different from the rest of us? Either way, the elitism that underlies this event is just hilarious, given its stilted effort to be empathic to what the University probably considers the unannointed hoi polloi.
- Comment (48)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments:
Jul '11
Re: Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
TheSophist
Nathaniel Wright: The Harvard alum I've met seem to try to drop it in the first paragraph of our conversations. They can't get the phrase out fast enough.
Those from Yale, on the other hand, often say something vague like "I went to a small school in New Haven" as if they went to Gateway Community College. · 22 minutes ago
Trace can probably identify with this, but I have met fellow Yalies who would say crap like, "Oh, I went to a school in New Haven". I'd always follow that up with, "Oh, Albertus Magnus? Great little school! I went to Yale just down the street from there."
Harvard douchebags saying "Boston" is one thing, since there are a lot of schools in Boston, but Yalies, Brownies, Darmouth-ites, and Princetonians doing the same is pitiful indeed. · 8 hours ago
Depending on who's asking, it might not be false modesty. In many cases I don't want the person with whom I'm speaking to know I went to Yale. I get around it by saying "Davenport College."
Jul '11
Re: Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
Point taken, but note that the justices are from Harvard and Yale Law Schools, just as the Clintons are. Not the same thing as Harvard and Yale Colleges.
Apr '12
Re: Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
Harvard is like winning the lottery. Canadians who go to US schools rarely return home.
Aug '12
Re: Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
The problem with Harvard and Yale is that their small faculties are so highly influential. Too much influence from such a small group.
The law faculties are even worse, especially considering the Supreme Court.
Apr '11
Re: Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
Most Harvard graduates go on to normal jobs, doing normal things. My experience has been that the farther they get from Harvard and the more normal the job the more quiet they are about Harvard. They want to avoid the reaction of "You went to Harvard and your doing the same thing I am?" When they are younger, or if they are very successful they are more free with dropping the "H Bomb".
Apr '11
Re: Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
In my experience there are two types of Harvard grads: those who tell you about it within five minutes of being introduced and those who are reticent to tell you at all. The former tend to be insufferable and the latter are among some of the best people I know. Don't know why but it's true.
Mar '11
Re: Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
Q: How can you tell if someone went to Harvard?
A: Wait two minutes, they'll tell you.
Then there's the joke that starts with - A visitor to the Harvard campus asked a passing student "Can you tell me where the Library is at"? Unfortunately the punchline is not COC-compliant.
Sep '12
Re: Why Are Harvard People So Awkwardly Elitist?
In an Unc/Knowledge interview (to my recollection "Intellectuals and Society"), T. Sowell amusingly observes along the line that there is a Harvard person in the middle of every problem in the country. Lack of sufficient intellectual humility is the point.