Moral Reasoning for Harvard Investments

To the editors:

The Crimson of April 8 exposed the millions of dollars Harvard has already gained from the war in Iraq (News, “Faculty Question Defense Holdings”) The University’s investment in weapons of war is a disgrace to the school and should be stopped immediately.

Harvard College requires all of its students to take courses in moral reasoning. To quote from the course catalog, moral reasoning courses “are intended to show that it is possible to reflect reasonably about such matters as justice, obligation, citizenship, loyalty, courage, and personal responsibility.” Yet these courses are funded by the weapons manufacturers in which Harvard invests.

With an almost $20 billion endowment and an academic commitment to teach students to act responsibly, can’t Harvard’s administration afford to take responsibility for the effects of its investments?

I am horrified to realize that my monthly stipend check is funded by weapons manufacturers. Why must we profit from violence, even as we pretend to reject it?

Nora Morrison ’00

April 5, 2003

The writer is first-year graduate student at the Graduate School for Arts and Sciences.