When Harvard University’s $52 billion endowment vanishes in a catastrophic crypto collapse, the world’s most elite institution faces a secret existential crisis. Enter J. Prescott “Scotty” Oaks IV: a Texas cutting horse rancher with MIT and Harvard Business School degrees—and a plan to save the school. His one condition? One year of complete autonomous authority.

What follows is a bold experiment in institutional reform. Buildings are renamed. Tuition is eliminated. The curriculum is rebuilt around timeless texts and open debate. And a broken admissions system is replaced by a simple challenge: Do hard things.

But not everyone is ready for change. As alumni rebel, faculty revolt, and the media smells blood, Scotty finds himself in the fight of his life—not just for Harvard, but for the soul of American education.

At the heart of the storm is Genie Rodriguez, a student activist turned campus journalist, whose search for truth leads her to challenge her peers, her mentors, and herself.

Yell Hard is a sharply observed, fast-paced novel about courage, clarity, and the battle to reform a broken institution without losing its soul. Both satirical and sincere, it’s a campus novel for anyone who still believes leadership matters—and that one voice, spoken clearly, can still change everything.