Harvard’s Darkest Secrets

By Anna Collins 1 year ago

1. The Spunker Club

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The Spunker club is an extremely secretive club which nobody knows who is a part of it, or if it even exists. Those within it have strict measures for example, the group could not even write down its name. The group partook in many immoral activities such as digging out bodies from graves for medical research - and so you can see why the secrecy was necessary.

2. They required nude photos

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This dark secret sounds very wild because if you were a student entering Harvard point between the 1940s and the 1970s, then you were required to have a photo taken of you. Naked. To make it even worse the reasons behind it is they were comparing different body types with how intelligent you were...

3. Decapitated body parts in the walls

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Harvard has more than its fair share of skeletons in the closet (literally). Janitor Ephraim Littlefield found remains inside the wall near Prof. Webster's office and it then turned out he had murdered the then missing Dr. Parkman. The case was helped solved by two of Harvard's students.

4. Their library holds a book of human skin

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Now this sounds truly macabre and revolting. But some say it is proven that Harvard library contains a book made from human skin. Scientists have identified the book in question. Nobody else knows which book it is or where and how to find it, despite many trying.

5. One third of its intake is the children of alumni's

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Harvard favours its alumni's. If you have family in the Harvard club, then your chances increase astronomically. In fact, a massive one third of Harvard's intake is made up of former Harvard student's children. This favouritism doesn't care whether someone else was academically more superior.

6. Harvard was sued for racial discrimination

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Harvard is known for not being very inclusive. Apart from its world-wide glowing reputation as an institution of global prowess - there is a dark side. There have been previous attempts to sue against Harvard for racial discrimination which some feel is prevalent at the University.

7. People can pay their way in

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Now it is very much well known that those with money will find it easier to get into Harvard. In fact, there are anecdotes of children from very prestigious and wealthy families 'donating' millions to the University to miraculously found that their child who perhaps wasn't the smartest has now been accepted.

8. It's not so much about who is best

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Don't be fooled into thinking that only those at the top elite US universities are the most talented and academically superior of everyone. While yes, they contain some of the best in the world. There are people from less privileged backgrounds who didn't get in or never considered it a viable option who never get that chance.

9. The statue is not John Harvard

 
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The infamous statue of John Harvard...well, it is not actually him. It is in fact a good-looking student who modelled in place of John for the benefit of the statue. The artist who made the statue randomly selected this student because of his looks. Noone knows what John Harvard really looks like.

10. A library with a catch

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Eleanor Elkins gave Harvard $3.5 million to build a library in his name after her son who had graduated from Harvard died on the titanic. Her condition was that nobody could alter the appearance of the library - otherwise it would no longer be owned by Harvard, but it would be public Cambridge property. So, they solved this issue by digging under the ground.

11. John Harvard wasn't the founder

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This is a pretty shocking fact to find out that John Harvard was not actually the founder when the University is named after him, and the statue is named after him. But he was not the founder of the University at all - he was a later benefactor. Who somehow, ended up with the most prominence.

12. Edward Pickering's discoveries used women

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Edward Pickering is a famous name in science and astronomy and also a name that will be prominent within the University. But the truth is although his discoveries were great...he used 80 women to help him map the sky making it a joint effort, but they were all paid at half of the rate of men.

13. Secret Clubs

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Secret clubs are rife in Harvard and elite Universities around the world. Some of the clubs aren't secret yet their activities are unknown to those who aren't a member. One of the most exclusive clubs is Porcellian whose motto is ''
Dum vivimus vivamus''
which translates as "while we live, let's live''.

14. And they still won't allow women

Image source/ HarvardsVarsityClub.com
It is a disgrace that the majority of the most elite and powerful club in the University still won't allow women. In fact, the former leader of the Porcellian group argued that it might actually increase sexual misconduct to have women in the group rather than make it better. He was later forced to resign his role and apologise, but women are still not allowed...

15. 'Punch season'

Image source/ TheHarvardCrimson.com
Punch season stands for the period of time when clubs and societies start collecting their members and exclusively selecting the people, they want the most. It begins in September and continues until November. In some clubs the student chosen for the selection process will receive an invitation slipped under their door at night.

16. They are ultimately exclusive

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These clubs and societies aren't what the majority of us are thinking. They are not just some people gathered in a room weekly - no they even get their own private chef and manager. No most of these clubs are so elite that there is extreme competition to get in them. It paves the way on the outside world where the most powerful successful and well-connected people all help one another.

17. You are treated as a VIP

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Once you're in them...or even during the selection process you are treated like royalty. Or, like the lives of these graduated from Harvard intend to go on living - with extreme wealth and luxury. For example, we are talking about all expense trips across countries to meet some of the wealthiest connections in the world.

18. They used to expel people who were homosexual

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The fact that historically Harvard used to expel people who were homosexual by putting them on a kind of trial is truly shocking. Of course, this practice has long been abolished long ago but what still remains shocking is that the person who ran it still had things in the University dedicated after him.

19. The University is trying to ban unrecognised clubs

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Because these societies and clubs run so deep within the University it inevitably changes the culture of the University. So, the University has recently taken to trying to ban all unrecognised societies and clubs to stop secret and perhaps immoral activities going on.

20. Sexual harassment within clubs

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Sexual harassment at Harvard is an issue and one of the reasons for it is because of these societies. There are statistics that show within these exclusive, secretive and all male clubs' sexual harassment is a frequent occurrence which does not seem to change.

21. Secrets of the Porcelian club

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If you're in the Porcelian club...you've already made it to success and power. In fact, there is a rule that if you don’t make your first million by 30, the club will give it to you. This has not been proven, but it has been suspected for a long, long time. Money is no issue to those in the club.

22. A lot of the students are miserable

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There have been many studied conducted about the quality of life of the students of Harvard. And, while they may score amongst the best in the world on many academic aspects, they do not score the highest on student happiness. The students here are always competing with the world's best, and the pressure is often too much to handle.

23. A cycle of keeping the privileged, privileged

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As many people suspect, a lot of the Harvard students are the children of already mega successful people. And that actually the University likes to have the children of famous or successful people under its roof. So, the Harvard essentially continues this cycle of keeping the privileged even more privileged

24. An unfair admissions system

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It probably comes as no surprise that the admission to Harvard is anything but fair. According to a former admissions worker he found that the whole idea that admission was fair was nothing but a con. For example, if two people of the same academic talent applied but one had powerful connections...guess who would get prevalence.

25. Poorer people barely get a chance

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To think that poorer people have less of a chance in the modern world shows how archaic and systematically unfair the world still is. Studies showed that 4.5 percent of Harvard students came from families from the bottom 20 percent of households. Which is not due to a lack of academic intelligence but due to a flawed system.

26. A man in power preying on women

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There was a man named Jorge Domínguez, who was a Government Department professor. In a report made by the University itself, it found that he used to sexual harass women. There were at least two female victims who suffered from Jorge Domínguez's abuse of power.

27. Complaints of racial prejudice

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There have been recent complaints about racial prejudice which suggest it is an issue that they have not properly worked towards preventing. Recent studies and complaints which have been filed with the U.S. Department of Education, as well as lawsuits against the University all point to a prolific problem.

28. The statue's lucky foot

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If you've ever been to visit or seen a picture if the statue named John Harvard, you'll see the colour on his foot is different. This is because visitors rub his foot as it has become some kind of symbol of good luck. The outer layer of silver has now been rubbed off to reveal the underneath.

29. Johnston Gate's bad luck

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The Johnston gates are the most famous gates of the University. But they are not hte most frequently used. In fact, for the majority of the year they are closed. It has become a long-held tradition that it is considered bad luck to pass through the Johnston Gate's more than two times. These two times should only be on entering the University and leaving for graduation.

30. The date of the statue is wrong

Image source/ HarvardMedicalSchool.com
One of the most famous statues in the US and a statue that is the iconic symbol of one of the most revered Universities and institutions in the entire world....is wrong. The date on the statue is around 20 years later than the real date when the University was founded. The spine on the book is also printed backwards.

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