I strongly disagree. Soft sciences drive money and publicity. Hard sciences drive research funding (i.e. restricted to research). Research in and of itself is not especially important for a private university. Cash isn't. We're in the business of educating students, not creating public goods.
To see the power of soft sciences, look at the following examples:
Look at the advantage that the U of Alabama has when it comes to state politics in Alabama, even when compared to Auburn (see UAB). Much of that is driven by their law school. The state government is systematically stacked in their favor.
Since this is a SU sports board, look at the contributions that Newhouse's ESPN connections have made to keeping SU relevant, despite 15 straight years of being bad to mediocre football. Sure, nobody is mistaking us for FSU, but at least everyone knows who we are, which is better than most schools with similar records.
Look at our rival, JHU. Their biggest contribution, and to the best of my knowledge, the biggest contribution in American higher ed history was from a guy who jumped from electrical engineering at JHU to HBS and the business world, where he made his fortune. Without him JHU, the #1 research school in the nation, would be over $1,000,000,000 poorer.
Hard sciences are nice to have, but soft sciences are crucial. mandate/mission statement aside, research is not the end all, be all.
