Kudos to
Harvard University for standing up to the
bullies in the Administration who are trying
to meddle in all forms of university governance. Using purported
antisemitism as a cudgel, the administration
is making all kinds of demands on Harvard,
just as they did on Columbia University. But while
Columbia folded, Harvard has stood firm that
they will not be intimidated, even if they
stand to lose more than $2 billion in federal
funds.
Harvard is
standing strong rejecting the Administration
notion that they can mandate changes in ways
the university admits students and hires
faculty. They have
refused to allow government interference in
their DEI policies. The Administration
has asked for ideological audit of academic
departments and Harvard refuses. They
have disagreed with the administration request
that the university enforce bans on face masks
during protests. Harvard will not impose
additional scrutiny on international students,
nor will they revise their disciplinary to bow
to government demands.
Harvard
President Alan Garber ‘s letter to the Harvard
community said that Harvard “will not
surrender its independence or relinquish its
constitutional rights” by acquiescing to the
demands the administration is making.
Government, he says, cannot control a private
university’s academic decisions, including
areas of scholarly inquiry. In light of the
Executive Order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity
to American History” suggests that he intrusive
requests the Administration has made to
Harvard and other universities, might also
include attacks on departments of African
American Studies, on courses on Critical Race
Theory, and more.
This 47th President
was seemingly elected because some perceived
him as better than Vice President Harris on
the economy. But the only economic
outcome I see from these attacks on education
are the revenue drain that will come when
international students choose to study
somewhere other than the United States.
While once global students clamored to
matriculate at the Harvard, Yales and MITs of
our country, why would they come when their
visas are being capriciously yanked, when they
can be summarily deported, and when the campus
environment has become hostile.
International students are paying
students, some campus bottom lines will be
affected by this administration’s antipathy
toward international students. There are
1.3 million international students in the
United States. Half of them are graduate
students. How would campus climate
change if they all were forced to go home?
And what would campus bottom lines look
like when this revenue source is imperiled.
Former UN
Ambassador Andrew Youn often speaks of the
international connections he made when he
attended Howard University. He learned
about Africa from his classmates, he said.
Learned the value of globalism before he
ever left the country because his colleagues
shared their experiences. The attack on
international students leaves American
students much poorer, with an aspect of their
education diminished when campuses are hostile
environments for global students.
The
administration has established a Presidential
Commission on Campus Accountability (PCCA),
although they have been quite translucent
about its composition or duties. Based
on the demands transmitted to Harvard, this
commission will likely embark on an anti-free
speech, anti-DEI, anti-global stance agenda
laid out by the administration. The
commission, supposedly, will be able to audit
federal funding use, and evaluate university
policies on admissions, hiring and discipline.
Will they be able to veto a faculty
hire, or suggest one more acceptable to the
administration? Will they be able to
suggest disciplinary action? Private
universities are under no obligation to adhere
to federal scrutiny unless they are breaking
the law. It seems to me that the very
establishment of the PCCA may be unlawful.
Most
universities are heartened by Harvard’s
action. But Harvard has a $50 billion
endowment and several former Presidents among
its alumni, not that the current President
cares about any of that. Smaller
colleges and universities with smaller
endowments may feel pressured to conform to
the administration’s demands and change their
policies. What if this
administration decides to go after Howard
University, the Mecca with a line item in the
federal budget. What if they decide that
Tuskegee University, with millions in federal
contracts, doesn’t adhere to their standards.
Many small HBCUs, some tottering on the
brink of insolvency, are especially vulnerable
to the pressure this administration can bring.
No one is
surprised by the administration’s attack on
higher education, and everyone should. Be
concerned about what this means for the
future. Ambassador Young relishes the
connections he made as an undergraduate
student with others from around the world.
Will people from other countries be
eager, in the future, to come to study, to do
research, to attend conferences, to engage
with their peers. The attack on higher
education, combined with the dangerous assault
on globalism, isolates the United States and
shatters global connections. US based
global activists must push back on these
actions.
