Staff Reports
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has landed a cushy gig at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health where she’ll reflect on her admin’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Lightfoot will hold the Richard L. and Ronay A. Menschel senior fellowship post where she will lead a course on public decision-making. But, given Lightfoot’s history of poor leadership decisions, it remains to be seen whether Harvard students will learn anything from her.
These are no longer serious institutions. https://t.co/OuToAHHNjV
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) June 5, 2023
The Senior Leadership Fellows Program at Harvard announced Lightfoot will hold regular office hours to “meet with students, faculty and staff” during her eight-week stay on campus. Harvard’s director of the program believes that Lightfoot’s “insights and knowledge of leadership decision-making” will benefit students. But let’s be honest, Lightfoot’s leadership gets an ‘F’ for failure in Chicago.
As mayor, Lightfoot’s tenure led to Chicago becoming known for its never-ending lockdowns of public schools as the city surrendered to demands from the radical teacher’s unions to keep students at home. Of course, these lockdowns failed to significantly reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the city.
Chicago also experienced an alarming spike in mass shootings during her leadership. The shootings reached their highest levels since the 1990s. Instead of addressing the root causes of soaring gun violence – such as lax law enforcement or the breakdown of the family unit – Lightfoot played the blame game.
And let’s not forget that Chicago experienced a massive loss in income revenue following the relocation of its wealthiest billionaire to Florida. Instead of claiming responsibility, Lightfoot opted to blame racism and sexism for her primary defeat.
All this begs the question: what can Lightfoot possibly teach Harvard students about public decision-making? Let’s hope that her stint at Harvard inspires Lightfoot to make better leadership decisions in the future – at least if she ever plans to run for political office again.
