In bashing Harvard, Romney hits alma mater

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

It always provokes a laugh among conservative audiences but is no less curious each time it happens, those attacks Mitt Romney makes on his own alma mater.

He did so again yesterday, when the Republican presidential contender criticized Harvard University during a foreign policy speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in San Antonio, Texas.

Chastising those who may believe that if the United States recedes, so, too, will its enemies, Romney bashed what is often seen as a liberal bastion.

“That may be what they think in that Harvard faculty lounge, but it’s not what they know on the battlefield!” he told the vets.

Not only is Harvard a major player in Massachusetts, the state Romney led for four years as governor, but it also is the school from which he received the business and law degrees that helped propel him toward his highly lucrative venture capital career.

It is success in that arena, he says now, that makes him best equipped to replace President Obama as the country’s leader.

But Romney’s Harvard connection does not end with his own resume.

Like him, sons Tagg, Matt, and Josh all went to Brigham Young University as undergraduates. Then they also followed in their father’s footsteps by attending Harvard Business School.

Today, Tagg Romney is a venture capitalist who, until recently, split office space with his father. Matt Romney is in real estate in San Diego, while Josh Romney similarly works in real estate in Salt Lake City.

Furthermore, a large number of the advisers who help Romney speak about foreign policy - the subject of his speech yesterday - are also Harvard alums or teachers.

Among them are former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey (Harvard undergrad), Meghan O’Sullivan (Kennedy School teacher), William Martel (Harvard post-doctoral fellow), and Dan Senor (Harvard Business School graduate).

One rival has the potential to remind voters of Romney’s background.

Texas Governor Rick Perry recently distinguished himself in an academic way when comparing himself to his predecessor, former President George W. Bush.

“I went to Texas A&M,” said Perry. “He went to Yale.”