Ph.D. programs have digested and dissected and processed so much over time, that they need to take on some strange topics and approaches just to give each other something to be excited about. So where some see ideological penetration, it's also possible to discover a profession thrashing around to justify itself and generate interest in the profession (indeed, literally in the profession, as outsiders have little interest).
Harvard is giving more jobs to actual (and successful) writers than to academics, though -- a sign of a more commercial, "superstar" approach, or of the declining appeal and relevance of the purely academic in academia. Is it an attempt to bring the best writer-teachers to the best students or a particularly market-oriented and mercenary way of justifying the expense of a Harvard degree in creating the best connections for those already quite privileged? You decide.
It is freakish or cheesy of Woods or someone else to pad his resume by working his elite prep school into his credentials. I don't think Eton actually gives degrees, but it looks better than some pokey comprehensive school.
But it's not clear why, when Harvard or some similar institution says, "Boo!" the rest of the world has to jump. Maybe ignoring them, or giving the space and time to some other institution, is the best response.