David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

students and demoralizes them.
By the way, do you know what elite
institution has recognized this very fact
about the dangers of the Big Pond for
nearly fifty years? Harvard! In the
1960s, Fred Glimp took over as director
of admissions and instituted what was
known as the “happy-bottom-quarter”
policy. In one of his first memos after
taking office, he wrote: “Any class, no
matter how able, will always have a
bottom quarter. What are the effects of
the psychology of feeling average, even
in a very able group? Are there
identifiable types with the psychological
or what-not tolerance to be ‘happy’ or to
make the most of education while in the
bottom quarter?” He knew exactly how