--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that issues of gender have been…" description: "\"I think that issues of gender have been discussed widely at Harvard. But I think I was chosen clearly on the merits, and I wish to operate as president..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d89/drew-gilpin-faust-13526_affirm_i-think-that-issues-of-gender-have-been_1391064.jpg" --- # I think that issues of gender have been discussed widely… ![“I think that issues of gender have been discussed widely at Harvard. But I think I was chosen clearly on the merits, and I wish to operate as president on the merits. I think, on one level, we might say that I can affirm that women have the aptitude to do science or to do anything, including being…” quote by Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d89/drew-gilpin-faust-13526_affirm_i-think-that-issues-of-gender-have-been_1391064.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d89/drew-gilpin-faust-13526_affirm_i-think-that-issues-of-gender-have-been_1391064.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d89/drew-gilpin-faust-13526_affirm_i-think-that-issues-of-gender-have-been_1391064.jpg) > “I think that issues of gender have been discussed widely at Harvard. But I think I was chosen clearly on the merits, and I wish to operate as president on the merits. I think, on one level, we might say that I can affirm that women have the aptitude to do science or to do anything, including being president of Harvard.” [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She emphasizes merit-based selection and affirms women's capability in all fields, including leadership. **In simple terms:** Merit matters; women can lead. Key Takeaway Promote meritocracy and gender equality. Themes leadership gender equality meritocracy Mood confident assertive Type inspirational leadership When to use this quote - University governance - career advancement - public speaking Key Concepts affirmation confidence inclusion Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions ensure true meritocracy? - What steps support gender equity beyond statements? A Different Perspective Merit alone may not address systemic biases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affirm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirm/) [Anything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anything/) [Aptitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aptitude/) [Been](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/been/) [Being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being/) [Chosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chosen/) [Clearly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clearly/) [Discussed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discussed/) [Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender/) [Gender Discussed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender-discussed-464847/) [Harvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harvard/) [Harvard Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harvard-think-789312/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [I think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-think/) [I wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-wish/) [Including](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/including/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Issues Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues-gender-1717737/) [Level](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/level/) [Merits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merits/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Operate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/operate/) [President](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president/) [President Harvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/president-harvard-1075352/) [Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think/) [Widely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/widely/) [Widely Harvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/widely-harvard-4848907/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [I’m not the woman president of Harvard, I’m the president of Harvard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/i-m-not-the-woman-president-of-harvard-i-m-the-president-of-harvard/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [“In ethics of life, the gender that are much discussed, are favourites.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-michael/in-ethics-of-life-the-gender-that-are-much-discussed-are-favourites/) [sol michael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-michael/) > [I think one percent of the population attended college when Wallace Stevens and Robert Frost and Gertrude Stein were at Harvard. Now I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-think-one-percent-of-the-population-attended-college-when-wallace/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [There is another innovation at Harvard which I think made a tremendous difference and that is the decision to try to recruit the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rosovsky/there-is-another-innovation-at-harvard-which-i-think-made-a/) [Henry Rosovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rosovsky/) > [A huge amount of what feminists are fighting for would have major positive impact for men as well as women. Take the male suicide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-bates/a-huge-amount-of-what-feminists-are-fighting-for-would-have-major/) [Laura Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-bates/) > [But the issue of sexual harassment is not the end of it. There are other issues - political issues, gender issues - that people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-hill/but-the-issue-of-sexual-harassment-is-not-the-end-of-it-there-are/) [Anita Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-hill/) > [These issues of gender equity and diversity have been ongoing conversations throughout the decades. I remember even when I was just starting in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-carteris/these-issues-of-gender-equity-and-diversity-have-been-ongoing/) [Gabrielle Carteris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-carteris/) > [It takes me several days, after I get back to Boston, to realize that the reference "the president" refers to the president of Harvard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/it-takes-me-several-days-after-i-get-back-to-boston-to-realize-that/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [“The president of Harvard changed admissions rules to keep Jews out”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-fagone/the-president-of-harvard-changed-admissions-rules-to-keep-jews-out/) [Jason Fagone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-fagone/) > [As America knows, Obama turned down the lucrative career path guaranteed to the first African-American president of The Harvard Law Review to pursue the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-rich/as-america-knows-obama-turned-down-the-lucrative-career-path/) [Frank Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-rich/) > [“A couple of years after I graduated from university, in January 2005, the president of Harvard University, economist Lawrence Summers, gave voice to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-saini/a-couple-of-years-after-i-graduated-from-university-in-january-2005/) [Angela Saini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-saini/) > [“But if there is an ongoing, nagging disconnect between, on the one hand, what I can and must affirm to be true and good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/but-if-there-is-an-ongoing-nagging-disconnect-between-on-the-one-hand/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [“Self-affirm—build yourself up with honest and genuine praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/self-affirm-build-yourself-up-with-honest-and-genuine-praise/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [To affirm a person is to see the good in them that they cannot see in themselves and to repeat it in spite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/to-affirm-a-person-is-to-see-the-good-in-them-that-they-cannot-see-in/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [“If you show yourself, you will not be seen. If you affirm yourself, you will not shine. If you boast, you will have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/if-you-show-yourself-you-will-not-be-seen-if-you-affirm-yourself-you/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) ## More by Drew Gilpin Faust > [One of the major jobs of the Harvard president is to choose the deans. I've had the opportunity to choose a considerable number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/one-of-the-major-jobs-of-the-harvard-president-is-to-choose-the-deans/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [I'd say Harvard graduates leave here with a sense of the possible and the limit - and a sense that there are no limits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/i-d-say-harvard-graduates-leave-here-with-a-sense-of-the-possible-and/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [Since the middle of the twentieth century, our understanding of the American past has been revolutionized, in no small part because of our altered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/since-the-middle-of-the-twentieth-century-our-understanding-of-the/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [“As the Reverend Robert Barnwell emphasized in an address to the ladies of Charleston, "WITHOUT YOU, THIS WAR COULD NOT HAVE BEEN CARRIED ON,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/as-the-reverend-robert-barnwell-emphasized-in-an-address-to-the/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [I think that the firepower of the Civil War, the numbers of bodies that were left to rot, the numbers of amputations in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/i-think-that-the-firepower-of-the-civil-war-the-numbers-of-bodies/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [I have always loved animals, and as a child, I read a lot of horse books. I had a particular favorite called 'Silver Snaffles'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/i-have-always-loved-animals-and-as-a-child-i-read-a-lot-of-horse/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [A leader has to keep saying the same things over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/a-leader-has-to-keep-saying-the-same-things-over-and-over-again/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [I've always done more than I ever thought I would. Becoming a professor - I never would have imagined that. Writing books - I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/i-ve-always-done-more-than-i-ever-thought-i-would-becoming-a/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [A university is not about results in the next quarter; it is not even about who a student has become by graduation. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/a-university-is-not-about-results-in-the-next-quarter-it-is-not-even/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [Before the Civil War, there were no national cemeteries, no processes for identifying the dead in the battle. There weren't any dog tags, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/before-the-civil-war-there-were-no-national-cemeteries-no-processes/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [The ability to recognize opportunities and move in new - and sometimes unexpected - directions will benefit you no matter your interests or aspirations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/the-ability-to-recognize-opportunities-and-move-in-new-and-sometimes/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [I never planned my career. I never planned to be president of Harvard. People would have thought I was crazy, probably, at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/i-never-planned-my-career-i-never-planned-to-be-president-of-harvard/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [“Where there are so many negroes upon places as upon ours," wrote an Alabama woman to the governor, "it is quite necessary that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/where-there-are-so-many-negroes-upon-places-as-upon-ours-wrote-an/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [We have been telling and hearing and reading war stories for millennia. Their endurance may lie in their impossibility; they can never be complete,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/we-have-been-telling-and-hearing-and-reading-war-stories-for/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) > [I often read nonfiction with a pencil in hand. I love the feel, the smell, the design, the weight of a book, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gilpin-faust/i-often-read-nonfiction-with-a-pencil-in-hand-i-love-the-feel-the/) [Drew Gilpin Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) [Explore all 50 Drew Gilpin Faust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gilpin-faust/) ## More Affirm quotes > [“If you show yourself, you will not be seen. If you affirm yourself, you will not shine. If you boast, you will have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/if-you-show-yourself-you-will-not-be-seen-if-you-affirm-yourself-you/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [To affirm a person is to see the good in them that they cannot see in themselves and to repeat it in spite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/to-affirm-a-person-is-to-see-the-good-in-them-that-they-cannot-see-in/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [“Self-affirm—build yourself up with honest and genuine praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/self-affirm-build-yourself-up-with-honest-and-genuine-praise/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“But if there is an ongoing, nagging disconnect between, on the one hand, what I can and must affirm to be true and good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-knitter/but-if-there-is-an-ongoing-nagging-disconnect-between-on-the-one-hand/) [Paul F. Knitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-knitter/) > [Affirm the body, beautiful and whole, The earth-expression of immortal soul. Affirm the mind, the messenger of the hour, To speed between thee and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/affirm-the-body-beautiful-and-whole-the-earth-expression-of-immortal/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [“Summoning gratitude is a sure way to get our life back on track. Opening our eyes to affirm gratitude grows the garden of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-katehakis/summoning-gratitude-is-a-sure-way-to-get-our-life-back-on-track/) [Alexandra Katehakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-katehakis/) > [Affirm: I now willingly release all negative beliefs about myself, my life and all other people. I now forgive myself for thinking I ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/affirm-i-now-willingly-release-all-negative-beliefs-about-myself-my/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [An affirmation states that a goal is already happening. I'm not crazy about this because, often when we affirm something that is not yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-harv-eker/an-affirmation-states-that-a-goal-is-already-happening-i-m-not-crazy/) [T. Harv Eker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-harv-eker/) > [We are here to affirm, not to deny... when we affirm all that is God, all that is not God is automatically denied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/we-are-here-to-affirm-not-to-deny-when-we-affirm-all-that-is-god-all/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [To affirm life is to deepen, to make more inward, and to exalt the will-to-life. At the same time the man who has become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/to-affirm-life-is-to-deepen-to-make-more-inward-and-to-exalt-the-will/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [“May all you affirm and believe be given the opportunity to manifest - day by day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleesha/may-all-you-affirm-and-believe-be-given-the-opportunity-to-manifest/) [Eleesha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleesha/) > [When you affirm your own Tightness in the universe, then you co operate with others easily and automatically as part of your own nature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-roberts/when-you-affirm-your-own-tightness-in-the-universe-then-you-co/) [Jane Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-roberts/) > [“Affirm your life's destiny & purpose to ensure - both are graciously fulfilled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleesha/affirm-your-life-s-destiny-purpose-to-ensure-both-are-graciously/) [Eleesha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleesha/) > [Poesy must not be drawn by the ears: it must be gently led, or rather, it must lead, which was partly the cause that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/poesy-must-not-be-drawn-by-the-ears-it-must-be-gently-led-or-rather/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [“Like a pair of old slippers, I feel comfort and warmth as I slip into you. No, that is too crude. Like the match…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/like-a-pair-of-old-slippers-i-feel-comfort-and-warmth-as-i-slip-into/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) [Browse all 68 Affirm quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirm/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think that issues of gender have been discussed widely at Harvard. But I think I was chosen clearly on the merits, and I wish to operate as president on the merits. 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