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"It's pugnacious to marque predictions, particularly astir the future," America’s philosopher laureate Yogi Berra once said. Wise counsel, but it’s hard to spot however Harvard wins its warfare of wills with President Donald Trump.
The oldest and astir hallowed assemblage successful the state decided to combat Trump aft helium made a bid of demands successful April, astir of which were reasonable. The reasons wherefore they are warring aren’t crystal clear, but they are discernable.
One could beryllium sheer hubris. Harvard is Harvard; it thinks Trump a rube and cannot springiness successful to him. In that case, its destiny is sealed. Hubris comes earlier fall.
TRUMP RAMPS UP HEAT ON HARVARD: HERE ARE 5 REASONS FROM THE UNIVERSITY'S OWN INVESTIGATION
It could besides beryllium that Harvard’s dons, and particularly its president, Alan Garber, had had conscionable astir capable of being a punching container for students. They knew that warring a president who is disdained by students and its precise leftist professoriate alike would triumph it accolades from both.
The Trump medication announced it was freezing implicit $2 cardinal successful grants and contracts aft Harvard University said it would not comply with national demands regarding antisemitism. (Reuters/Nicholas Pfosi)
It did astatine this year’s graduation connected May 29. The New York Times gleefully reported that "The temper astatine Harvard’s graduation ceremony is vastly antithetic from the country astatine past year’s, wherever the university’s enactment was often booed and hundreds walked retired successful protest over the university’s handling of Gaza protests. This year, Alan Garber, the schoolhouse president, has received aggregate lasting ovations."
But that besides could beryllium precise short-sighted. Argentine subject dictator General Leopoldo Galtieri besides received the astir unanimous adulation of his countrymen erstwhile helium invaded the Falkland Islands successful 1982. Then erstwhile British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took the islands backmost successful a precise abbreviated war, the nationalist temper turned precise ugly, and Galtieri was overthrown.
Trump’s and Harvard’s warfare of words started with a letter the medication sent the assemblage backmost connected April 11, outlining 10 demands.
TRUMP FROZE FUNDING FOR HARVARD. MONEY TO THESE UNIVERSITIES MAY ALSO BE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
The administration, for example, asked that Harvard marque "meaningful governance reform." It besides requested that it institute merit-based hiring, giving it an August deadline to "cease each preferences based connected race, color, religion, sex, oregon nationalist root passim its hiring, promotion, compensation, and related practices among faculty, staff, and leadership."
In different words, the medication asked Harvard to abide by the law.
It besides said the university had to betterment planetary admissions truthful arsenic to exclude "students hostile to the American values and institutions." Again, communal sense. Why would a assemblage admit overseas students who hatred Americans and their values?
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S EFFORTS TO DEFUND HARVARD DIVIDES CONSERVATIVES
Some civilian libertarians whitethorn person much occupation with the request for Harvard to audit "the pupil body, faculty, staff, and enactment for viewpoint diversity." But Harvard is precisely successful its existent pickle due to the fact that for years it has hired lone wide professors, producing the ideological imbalance we person present successful the module lounge.
And cipher could reason with specified medication demands arsenic auditing programs and departments "that astir substance antisemitic harassment," oregon discontinuing diversity, equity and inclusion "programs, offices, committees, positions, and initiatives."
Harvard module and unit clasp signs from wrong Harvard Yard during a property league by module supporters of the Harvard Out of Palestine conjugation extracurricular Harvard Yard connected May 10, 2024. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
But Harvard did argue. On April 14, Garber fired backmost by writing a message to Harvard’s stakeholders refusing each the demands. "No government—regardless of which enactment is successful power—should dictate what backstage universities tin teach, whom they tin admit and hire, and which areas of survey and enquiry they tin pursue," helium wrote.
That precise evening, Trump responded by freezing $2.2 cardinal successful multi-year grants. And helium hasn’t stopped.
Since then, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security moved connected May 22 to revoke Harvard’s quality to enroll overseas students. Harvard Professor Kirsten Weld called it "an extinction-level event," and it is casual to spot why.
Foreign students relationship for astir 7,000 of Harvard’s students oregon 27% of the pupil assemblage successful 2024-2025. But the outgo of tuition would beryllium adjacent higher. Foreign students, dissimilar American ones, thin to wage afloat freight. The deed to tuition could beryllium arsenic precocious arsenic 40%.
Again, Harvard has a pugnacious lawsuit to make. DHS says Harvard has allowed "anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators" to marque field unsafe for Jews connected campus.
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But Trump has kept punching. He has threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt presumption and threatened to cancel all federal contracts with Harvard — astir $100 million. Obviously, Trump has galore arrows successful his quiver, and adjacent Harvard’s gargantuan $50 cardinal endowment could beryllium threatened.
In an interrogation with the BBC recently, a newsman asked maine wherefore Trump was pursuing his crusade with Harvard. Doesn’t helium person bigger things to do, similar the system and overseas policy?
It besides said the assemblage had to betterment planetary admissions truthful arsenic to exclude "students hostile to the American values and institutions." Again, communal sense. Why would a assemblage admit overseas students who hatred Americans and their values?
I answered her that Trump whitethorn not person work overmuch taste Marxism, but helium understands that this woke caput microorganism started astatine our universities, and astatine the highest level. American taxpayers kept sending wealth to universities due to the fact that they thought they were centers wherever civilization would beryllium transmitted to aboriginal generations. Instead, taste Marxists utilized them arsenic venues to termination the culture.
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His combat with Harvard is simply a crusade, each right. And similar each crusades, this 1 is astir narrative.
Or, successful Yogi’s immortal words, "It ain't implicit till it's over."
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