In 2003, students at Harvard University surveyed the university’s hallways and meeting areas and found four centuries of portraits of esteemed scholars and benefactors. Three of the 302 portraits were people of color.

To their credit, Harvard administrators recognized a problem. They came up with $100,000 to commission a Harvard Minority Portraiture Project to add some new faces in prominent locations on the university’s walls.

When it comes to allowing the curriculum to embrace the study of Asians in America, however, the Harvard administration has shown more reluctance. Part of the reason is that Harvard sees itself, and is seen by many outside the university, as an institution that has been at the forefront of educational innovation since its founding in 1636.

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