Sad. Looks Like David Kane '88 is Being Attacked by Harvard Students and Faculty for Being Normal

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - I have noticed over the last couple of days that the Ephblog site was down. I was going to send an email but assumed that everything was basically okay. Now, however, it looks like more is up than I imagined. My friend, David Kane, is a statistics instructor for Gov. 50 at Harvard. It looks like the kids at Harvard finally figured out he was the proprietor of Ephblog. 

The stuff that concerns them enough to boycott his class is the mildest of conservative talking points. According to The Crimson, Kane's bigotry is best captured as follows: 

Some entries posted by “Field” on EphBlog make references to “Black Supremacy” in the NBA, claim that over 90 percent of Black students at Williams College would not have been admitted if it were not for their “Black’ness” [sic], and question Williams College’s condemnation of white supremacist group Identity Evropa without similar condemnation of the Black Lives Matter and Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movements.

As far as I can tell, the nonsense hit the fan after Kane showed the insensitivity to invite the beloved Charles Murray to speak at his class. 

After The Crimson reported that Kane invited Charles A. Murray ’65 to deliver a talk as part of the course, another student suggested that “Field” might be Kane, Queen said.

It looks like Kane has maintained the confidence of his employer and appears to be handling himself well. As far as I can tell, the comments on this article and the others I reviewed are overwhelmingly pro-Kane and pro-free speech.

This is a great opportunity to remind ourselves of Kane's extraordinary skills and record. According to his Harvard biography, "David Kane is the Preceptor in Statistical Methods and Mathematics in the Department of Government at Harvard University. He served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1988 to 1991. Prior to returning to Harvard in 2018, he worked in quantitative finance for two decades, mostly as an equity portfolio manager at firms including Numeric, Geode, Millenium, Point72 (formerly SAC), Acadian and Hutchin Hill. In 2016 he was a Professor of the Practice at Middlebury College. He teaches Gov 50: Data and Gov 52: Models."

Maybe this deplatforming nonsense is coming to an end. I haven't had time to sift through all of this yet. Here are the articles I've found so far. 

The Harvard Crimson - Students Allege Harvard Instructor David Kane Made Racist Posts on Blog

The Harvard Crimson - Charles Murray to Speak in Gov 50 Lecture Series

The Harvard Crimson - Faculty Members Call EphBlog Posts ‘Horrible’ and ‘Deeply Disturbing’

The Harvard Crimson - Harvard Undergraduate Council Endorses Removal of Gov 50 Instructor

The Harvard Crimson - Gov 50 Preceptor David Kane to Resume Lecturing Despite Calls for His Removal

The College Fix: Students drive out Harvard instructor after he invited Charles Murray to address their class

One of the most interesting full articles is below the break. 

Shock! Williams College Barely Makes Top 20 in Newest Forbes Ranking

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - According to Forbes, Williams ranks 19th in the nation. For purposes of comparison, Williams ranked number one in both 2010 and 2011.

It is my understanding that the Forbes ranking prioritizes getting value out of one's educational investment. I assume they are still using the same criteria they reported in 2011 which reads:

Forbes' rating system utilizes five categories to determine school rankings. Student satisfaction includes analyses of teacher quality and student retention rates, among other indicators. The debt category accounts for the average dollar amount students owe upon graduating. The rankings also factor in 4-year graduation rates as well as the number of students winning prestigious fellowships and scholarships. Finally, evaluators account for post-graduate success by examining how school alumni fare in the professional world.

Today, Forbes places Williams behind other notable colleges including Cornell where I did my graduate work. Other familiar institutions rated higher than Williams include Brown, Dartmouth and Pomona. Part of the problem seems to be that Williams costs more that Harvard and yet is students end up earning less than Harvard graduates.

Why is Williams College falling out of its previously coveted number one ranking? At the root of most of these measures is the merit of various participants in the college's life. Here, identity politics looks like the most reasonable cause of the drop in status. For example, faculty members picked for their diversity instead of their excellence will naturally reduce the quality of teaching. Bringing in unqualified students will decrease retention rates since these students will most likely crumble under the pressure of competing with their brighter, more together peers. Likewise, a lower quality student body will also be less likely to win awards including fellowships and scholarships. Finally, students who have been largely studying in the great grievance fields will be unlikely to do well in the professional or business world.

Although I've been proud to say I taught at the top liberal arts college in the nation, I've always known that liberal arts colleges are not in the same league as research universities. I've known that Williams benefited in the U.S. News and World Report rankings because of the size of its endowment. Now, I imagine, the proponents of identity politics, who have dominated the campus for years, will finally back off because they realize they have damaged the brand. Not.