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Crypto-monarchists at Harvard
May. 31st, 2014 12:10 amHarvard's commencement ceremony on Thursday included the singing of a short anthem for the university president, the words of which are:
Domine, salvum fac Praesidem nostrum et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus Te.
(O Lord, make safe our President and hear us on the day when we shall call upon You).
The chorus actually sang "salvam", as the current president is a woman, Drew Gilpin Faust.
The music is by Charles Gounod, and just this evening I found that it is from his 1862 Mass No. 2 in G Major, where the original words refer to Emperor Napoleon III. So, someone at Harvard 150 years or so decided that its president was worthy of imperial honors, and that tradition has been kept ever since.
I have long suspected that Harvard perceives itself as Isaac Asimov's First Foundation, and this only deepens my suspicion.
Domine, salvum fac Praesidem nostrum et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus Te.
(O Lord, make safe our President and hear us on the day when we shall call upon You).
The chorus actually sang "salvam", as the current president is a woman, Drew Gilpin Faust.
The music is by Charles Gounod, and just this evening I found that it is from his 1862 Mass No. 2 in G Major, where the original words refer to Emperor Napoleon III. So, someone at Harvard 150 years or so decided that its president was worthy of imperial honors, and that tradition has been kept ever since.
I have long suspected that Harvard perceives itself as Isaac Asimov's First Foundation, and this only deepens my suspicion.
