We can best preserve the essential freedoms we enjoy as intellectual workers by doing our jobs well. In part, that means serving the broader public through our contributions on the question of color, as I have just suggested. It also means recognizing that the demographic changes I ve discussed make diversity and inclusion in our workplaces an essential part of excellence. At Harvard Law School, we aspire to be not merely the best law school in the nation or in the world, but the best law school in the solar system. This record is scandalous, bordering on educational malpractice.
Inclusion is an essential ingredient of excellence.
My conclusion, therefore, is that as journalists and academics we must earn our privileges. I say this not because the Constitution thus conditions our privileges, but because it is prudent to do so. We cannot rely on the prescience of the Founding Fathers, great as it was, to protect our professions. To secure these essential rights, we must assure the public of the value of our contributions. And doing so means that we must be ever mindful of the crying needs of the diverse society we serve.