By Julianne Malveaux
(Trice Edney Wire) – 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 speak 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.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author in Washington DC. Juliannemaveaux.com.
Source: Seattle Medium
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