On Monday afternoon, Harvard President Alan M. Garber became the first college president of a major institution to let T**** know that he and the university were not the ones to play with.
“No government – regardless of which party is in power – should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Garber wrote in a letter released to the public.
The bold response to the bullying tactics from the current administration came after the latter sent a letter to the storied institution outlining dramatic, biased, authoritarian and ridiculous changes they wanted the university to make to its educational, admissions process, hiring policies, practices and beliefs.
President Garber made it clear that the T**** administration wants to administer intellectual regulation through the guise of fighting antisemitism.
In his public response, President Garber encouraged people to read the letter’s demands to “gain a fuller understanding of the unprecedented demands being made by the federal government to control the Harvard community.”
To that notion, Garber made his thoughts clear.
“The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
His stance immediately brought cheers from those supporting democracy, equality and freedom.
It also brought the vindictive, spiteful and punitive hand of this administration’s hand down on Harvard by announcing that it had frozen over $2.3 billion in funding meant for the school.
But with an endowment of over $53 billion, Harvard won’t be threatened and made it clear that T**** can take his demands and stick them you know where.
It’s a decision that should be celebrated by all who are fighting for justice and equal rights and for those who believe in our constitution and freedom of speech.
Harvard’s decision should also act as a beacon by which other institutions rally around to fight back against the funding threats they’re facing. It’s what Columbia should have done instead of agreeing to be monitored by a federal overseer in an attempt to restore the $400 million in grants that were snatched away from the university.
Hopefully, the other Ivies who were threatened, as well as other institutions, will pair up with Harvard to strengthen the fight against these tyrannical and fascist attacks on higher education.
While it’s heartening to see Harvard take a stand, it’s also frustrating when you recall how quickly those in power at Harvard turned their backs on Claudine Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, last year.
On July 1st, 2023, Gay, who earned her Bachelor’s in Economics from Stanford University and her PhD from Harvard, made Harvard history with her appointment to president. And despite a resume that leaves no question about her qualifications, a target was immediately placed on her back by MAGA loyalists, particularly New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.
In December of that year, Gay, along with MIT President Sally A. Kornbluth and UPenn President Elizabeth Magill, were summoned to Capitol Hill to testify about the alleged rise in antisemitism on college campuses.
All three addressed the issue and confirmed their commitment to stamp out any hate that resulted from the war in Gaza, but it wasn’t enough as Republicans pressed and pressed until the pressure mounted and frustration settled in.
That’s when Stefanik and her colleagues pounced and made these brilliant, highly successful leaders look like they weren’t doing enough to combat the issue.
The attack intensified when racist conservative activist Chris Rufo attacked Gay’s scholarship and pushed the notion that she was unqualified for her position.
In the aftermath, Gay (and Magill) stepped down in January 2024, only six months into her presidential tenure. She blamed “racial animus” and a conservative witch hunt for the attacks on her credibility and her decision to step down.
It was both painful and infuriating to watch, especially seeing how Harvard’s powerful Board of Trustees issued a letter of support for Gay only a week after the hearings ended.
But as the pressure mounted, the Board’s support reportedly wavered, which also contributed to Gay’s decision.
Fast forward to Monday, and Harvard has taken a strong stance against the bullying and threats from the T**** administration, and rightfully so. The blatant attacks on education and basic human rights must be counteracted, and it’s encouraging to see a storied and powerful institution like Harvard take the first brave step to do so.
“These ends will not be achieved by assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate,” penned President Garber.
I just wish they had these words in their heads at the end of 2023 and given Gay the support she needed and deserved to navigate through the coordinated and personal attacks leveled by the same types of people who are repeating those attacks on Harvard now.
