
Harvard Withdraws Fellowship Invitation to Chelsea Manning - staz
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/15/551151607/harvard-withdraws-fellowship-invitation-to-chelsea-manning
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ztratar
Might get down-voted, but I don't think Chelsea Manning is a hero.

Do I think she is an evil traitor? Also no, but I don't understand the worship
of some of these very morally grey personalities.

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AaronFriel
I think that she did something very brave, but also very stupid. As I recall,
WikiLeaks did the right thing then and proved themselves to be reliable,
trustworthy actors in releasing details that were important for the public to
know.

Recent events have changed my opinion of WikiLeaks, but not of Manning, who
took an enormous risk to reveal crimes committed by the military.

~~~
tripplethrendo
Yeah most people are only happy with Wikileaks when they're going after
Republicans. They can't stand the same heat when they go after Democrats.

I have always been, and will remain, a fan of the truth being exposed.

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lern_too_spel
You mean the "truth" about Seth Rich that Assange's organization has been
spreading.

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Helloworldboy
I wouldn't claim to know the truth about that situation unless you're involved
in the investigation.

~~~
lern_too_spel
And I suppose you wouldn't claim to know the truth about chemtrails and
Bigfoot either? The Washington PD has already ruled it a botched robbery.

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grzm
Earlier discussion (10 hours ago, 61 comments):

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15255018](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15255018)

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Shank
As a move, I think that this was extremely daft of Harvard. The name Harvard
implies so much -- so the idea that it's able to bow to public pressure does a
lot of harm to that reputation. You could always argue that they made the
wrong decision, but I think standing by what they said as an institution would
carry more weight than backing down. That is, recognizing Chelsea is a cross
to die on. Backing down shows an abundance of malleability.

Maybe they're unaware of how much respect the Harvard name has? Hopefully this
teaches them something.

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strooper
It's very confusing how a prestigious institute , like Harvard makes
decisions. They first offer fellowship to Chelsea Manning but back off after
threatened by CIA chief. They honor Aung San Suu kyi, the top leader of
Myanmar, as the Humanitarian of the year 2016 when her country is literally
going through ethnic cleansing by persecuting Rohingya minority. Really
curious who makes these calls there...

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neo4sure
The world is a difficult place, isn't it. Nothing is black and white.
Sometimes it's hard for people to understand that...

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DanielBMarkham
Slight off-topic/meta:

 _"...In a statement released late Thursday, Elmendorf said the school did not
intend to honor Manning in any way or to endorse any of her words or
deeds..."_

What is the purpose of having visiting fellows? As a reader, if I knew that, I
might have some initial ability to start forming opinions about this story. Is
it an honor? A job? Both? Neither?

ADD: But I guess I'll never know due to the flag-kill brigade.

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grzm
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visiting_scholar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visiting_scholar)

> _The purpose of a visiting scholars programs is generally to bring to the
> university or educational institution in question an exceptional senior
> scholar who can contribute to and enrich the community 's intellectual and
> research endeavors and international projection._

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DanielBMarkham
So for somebody without a lot of academic experience to bring to bear, it's
basically a sinecure. Unless I missed something.

Thanks.

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dredmorbius
There are paths to knowledge which don't pass through the Ivory Tower.

Dan Gillmor at University of Arizona comes to mind. Many lawyers, doctors, and
computer science professionals. An enormous number of politicians. Military
officers. Political activists.

I'd strongly recommend you consider some of the existing and prior examples,
your response doesn't do the reality justice.

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DanielBMarkham
I'm happy with my response, although I understand that for a college with a
lot of money to spend, the definition and mission of fellows can be quite
broad.

To defend my position a little more, I was asking for a definition of the job
of visiting fellow that was presented in a format that advanced the
institution's mission. I found the Wikipedia page quite adequate in that
regard. I also understand that people like their colleges with a diverse and
outstanding mix of personalities and folks with unusual life experiences to
share. I have no problem with that. I think it's a great idea. It's just that
it's a sinecure. Nothing wrong with being honest about it. Manning or some
military person is not going to visit Harvard and proceed to discover the cure
for cancer. It's a checkbox both on their resume and the college's brochure.

I think it's a mistake to view this in terms of supporting or attacking either
Harvard or Manning. The purpose of my question was simply to clarify terms of
the discussion. It seems to me that there are two definitions of "visiting
fellow'. One definition is based on the academic credentials of the fellow.
The other is based on the type of experience the unviersity can provide
undergrads by having somewhat famous people hanging around. I'm okay with
that.

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RickJWag
What were they thinking in the first place? It was a stupid move to begin
with.

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Overtonwindow
Harvard has to be very careful in their decision making. They're only $37.6
billion dollars away from bankruptcy.

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JohnStrange
Certain study programs at Harvard such as 'Global Governance' seem to be
primarily designed to raise corrupt politicians and give future mass murderers
the rhetorical means to justify their actions, so that's maybe not such a big
loss for Manning.

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johansch
"Harvard also announced this week that it had invited former White House press
secretary Sean Spicer, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and
MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski to be visiting fellows."

It is really just a business, isn't it? To a European it is so odd to see
universities being... capitalistic.

Tacky is the word that comes into mind.

