--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While its [Harvard's] undergraduate life…" description: "\"While its [Harvard's] undergraduate life was still controlled [in 1908-1912] by a select group of rich and fashionable families whose sons merely arriv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_born_while-its-harvard-s-undergraduate-life-w_1780124.png" --- # While its \[Harvard's\] undergraduate life was still… ![“While its [Harvard's] undergraduate life was still controlled [in 1908-1912] by a select group of rich and fashionable families whose sons merely arrived when they were due to fill the places that had been waiting for them from the day they were born, it was, at the same time, opening its doors to…” quote by Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_born_while-its-harvard-s-undergraduate-life-w_1780124.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_born_while-its-harvard-s-undergraduate-life-w_1780124.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8d/doris-kearns-goodwin-1951_born_while-its-harvard-s-undergraduate-life-w_1780124.png) > “While its \[Harvard's\] undergraduate life was still controlled \[in 1908-1912\] by a select group of rich and fashionable families whose sons merely arrived when they were due to fill the places that had been waiting for them from the day they were born, it was, at the same time, opening its doors to a more cosmopolitan student population and beginning to take the first tentative steps toward mitigating the evils of a pyramidal social system that concentrated all its social honors upon the rich and the wellborn.” [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Harvard began shifting from an elite, hereditary admissions system toward a broader, more cosmopolitan student body, attempting to reduce social stratification. **In simple terms:** Harvard opened to more diverse students, reducing class barriers. Key Takeaway Support inclusive education to lessen social inequality. Themes education social mobility elitism diversity reform Mood hopeful critical Type historical analytical When to use this quote - college admissions - social reform - diversity initiatives Key Concepts sociology history policy Questions to Reflect On - How can modern institutions continue this inclusive trend? - What obstacles remain in achieving true educational equity? A Different Perspective Change was gradual and faced resistance from entrenched elites. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Controlled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controlled/) [Controlled 1908](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controlled-1908-1854780/) [Cosmopolitan Student](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmopolitan-student-1854778/) [Doors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doors/) [Dues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dues/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Fashionable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fashionable/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups/) [Harvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harvard/) [Harvard Undergraduate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harvard-undergraduate-1854777/) [Honor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honor/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Opening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opening/) [Population](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population/) [Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich/) [Select](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/select/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social systems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-systems/) [Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/son/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Undergraduate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undergraduate/) [Undergraduate Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undergraduate-life-1854779/) [Waiting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waiting/) ## Related quotes > [Undergraduate life on college campuses tends in the direction of neopagan excess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-hauerwas/undergraduate-life-on-college-campuses-tends-in-the-direction-of/) [Stanley Hauerwas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-hauerwas/) > [The French debt will remain massive. 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Yet our society, with its intolerance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-korda/the-american-system-demands-success-and-in-order-to-succeed-we-must/) [Michael Korda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-korda/) > [“As things stand the "intellectuals" only come out to lick the bones left over by the tyrant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nilantha-ilangamuwa/as-things-stand-the-intellectuals-only-come-out-to-lick-the-bones/) [Nilantha Ilangamuwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nilantha-ilangamuwa/) > [In all social systems there must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. 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I'm interested in the people closest to them, the people they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-write-about-presidents-that-means-i-write-about-guys-so-far-i-m/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [What I think I've learned is that you're never going to get it all right, and you can't obsess about having a fact wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/what-i-think-i-ve-learned-is-that-you-re-never-going-to-get-it-all/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [I wish we could go back to the time when the private lives of our public figures were relevant only if they directly affected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-wish-we-could-go-back-to-the-time-when-the-private-lives-of-our/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [People will love him (Theodore Roosevelt) for the enemies he has made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/people-will-love-him-theodore-roosevelt-for-the-enemies-he-has-made/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“This extreme treatment was among the proliferating regimens developed in response to the stunning increase in nervous disorders diagnosed around the turn of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/this-extreme-treatment-was-among-the-proliferating-regimens-developed/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“I could carve out of a banana a judge with more backbone than that,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-could-carve-out-of-a-banana-a-judge-with-more-backbone-than-that/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“And Lincoln, as would be evidenced throughout his presidency, was a master of timing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/and-lincoln-as-would-be-evidenced-throughout-his-presidency-was-a/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“Don’t hit till you have to; but, when you do hit, hit hard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/don-t-hit-till-you-have-to-but-when-you-do-hit-hit-hard/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“After ministering each day to the hundreds of young men who had endured ghastly wounds, submitted to amputations without anesthesia, and often died without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/after-ministering-each-day-to-the-hundreds-of-young-men-who-had/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [The value that I found in interviewing was for an educational experience, just to know that history itself is subjective, that you can't say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/the-value-that-i-found-in-interviewing-was-for-an-educational/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [Excitement about things became a habit, a part of my personality, and the expectation that I should enjoy new experiences often engendered the enjoyment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/excitement-about-things-became-a-habit-a-part-of-my-personality-and/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“All the cartoonists at heart liked him, and there was seldom or never anything bitter or really unfriendly in their portrayals of him; they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/all-the-cartoonists-at-heart-liked-him-and-there-was-seldom-or-never/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [I think that's still what the American Dream means: that with perseverance, with hard work, you can become something, that the classes won't prevent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-think-that-s-still-what-the-american-dream-means-that-with/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [I shall always be grateful for this curious love of history, allowing me to spend a lifetime looking back into the past, allowing me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-shall-always-be-grateful-for-this-curious-love-of-history-allowing/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“Simon Cameron: “I loved my brother, as only the poor and lonely can love those with whom they have toiled and struggled up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/simon-cameron-i-loved-my-brother-as-only-the-poor-and-lonely-can-love/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) [Explore all 196 Doris Kearns Goodwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) ## More Born quotes > [My mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-mother-says-i-didn-t-open-my-eyes-for-eight-days-after-i-was-born/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I know that in the rap game you've got a lot of people, that come from poverty, was born in poverty and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-connor/i-know-that-in-the-rap-game-you-ve-got-a-lot-of-people-that-come-from/) [Jon Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-connor/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. 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