In a recent Q&A in the New York Times, Harvard Law School Professor Lani Guinier discusses her new book, “The Tyranny of Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America.” Making the case that college admissions has become a “testocracy” in which standardized test scores are seen as the most important measure of merit, and character counts for little, Guinier argues for a rethinking of merit that would better reflect the values of a democratic society.
Lani Guinier, the first tenured woman of color at Harvard Law School, went through a trial by fire in 1993, when President Bill Clinton withdrew her nomination for assistant attorney general for civil rights.
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Upcoming Event: Book talk and panel discussion on Lani Guinier%SQUOTE%s %SQUOTE%The Tyranny of Meritocracy%SQUOTE%
On Wednesday, February 25 at noon, Join Prof. Guinier and others for a book talk and panel discussion on her new book, %DQUOTE%The Tyranny of Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America.%DQUOTE% The event, which takes place on the Harvard Law School campus in the WCC building room 2012, is one of a series of faculty book events sponsored by the Harvard Law School Library. For more information on this and other events, visit law.harvard.edu/calendar” float=”center”]
Negative publicity about her political and academic views had made her a polarizing figure. Conservatives called her “the quota queen,” though her essays, published in “The Tyranny of the Majority: Fundamental Fairness in Representative Democracy,” make it clear she opposed quotas and was seeking voting systems that would promote representation not just of the majority but also of a greater range of groups.
Her new book, “The Tyranny of Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America,” returns to the theme of inclusion … Read the full article at NYTimes.com
See related coverage from Inside Higher Ed, StreetRoots News and NPR.