Harvard stood up to Trump

[Patterncarmen]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/politics/trump-pressure-universities.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Excellent. Harvard with continue its diversity and inclusion efforts and continue it extant policies with international students. That’s what an endowment is all about. Let’s hope the other ivies follow suit and don’t sell out like Columbia.

Now if they could fix their plant based propaganda in their medical school too we’d all be better off.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/becoming-a-vegetarian

This is a very measured article from Harvard Medical school in July 2024, so recent.

‘You can get many of the health benefits of being vegetarian without going all the way. For example, a Mediterranean eating pattern — known to be associated with longer life and reduced risk of several chronic illnesses — features an emphasis on plant foods with a sparing use of meat. Even if you don't want to become a complete vegetarian, you can steer your diet in that direction with a few simple substitutions, such as plant-based sources of protein — beans or tofu, for example — or fish instead of meat a couple of times a week.
Only you can decide whether a vegetarian diet is right for you. If better health is your goal, here are some things to consider’.

I’m not sure why you think this is propaganda, but, oh well.

Still very glad DEI is alive and well at Harvard.

Good for Harvard!

That’s what an endowment is all about

There is a lot of concern in the sector that those endowments are going to be subject to heavily increased taxes.

Well, there are donations as well. The only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them.

Oh, Harvard - that's the university who sacked a scientist for writing about testosterone ...

I hope they replace all the NEH grants being cut, as well as the much bigger Federal funding of science. Talking to a US colleague with some dire individual stories at a conference last week. It's truly dire.

Not everything in a university is defined by adherence or non adherence to gender critical theory. Nor is politics, nor is life. But then again, this is mumsnet I guess.

But of course, Harvard is not nearly as good as the University of Austin where Kathleen Stock ended up. Such a bastion of enlightened free thinking, Texas.

Just reminding colleagues that even Harvard standing up to Trump has not been a bastion of academic freedom in the past ...

I admire them for standing up to Trump - they have the super-endowment which allows this. Would that Columbia had done this! But no institution is perfect.

And I don't know about the University of Austin - it's too new. But UT (Austin) is one of the top 30 in the world. Will they stand up to Trump, I wonder?

No one said any institution is perfect, but I think it is a mistake to rate or judge institutions on one issue or hobbyhorse.

The strength of the institution depends on its endowments, and how dependent it is on federal money. I’d imagine if Trump tried to threaten Harvard’s tax free status, then donations would come in. I also imagine that the plutocrats wanting to send their kids there would not be pleased, and would rein him in. Best way is for the ivies and as many institutions as possible to stand up to him and say no. never, ever, give into bullies.

I’ll leave this here, as a reminder to colleagues

In the gap between great expectations (of government/society) and low delivery, humiliation and resentment grow. History shows us that when political choice is lacking and people see no prospect of relief, they become highly susceptible to the transfer of blame. This transfer—attacking refugees and fomenting culture wars—is already well under way. Techniques of distraction—scapegoating, an intense focus on issues that have little impact on general welfare (woke academics, curatorial decisions in museums and historic houses, unisex bathrooms, young people allegedly identifying as cats) coupled with frustration and the transfer of blame, open the door to authoritarianism.

George Monbiot and Peter Hutchinson, The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism

A couple of interesting podcasts - The TRIP US most recent epi has Anthony S and Katty K talking about Harvard & other universities and what's happening to them. Also a topic for the BBC's Americast . Both offer interesting background about the tax status of US universities.

The NY Times is reporting that this fight, for which I too am very glad, is indeed engaging many small-ish donors (by Harvard standards).

However the paper had an article yesterday reporting that a number of major donors were contacting the Harvard Corporation to urge that the university attempt to settle with the government. Most disappointing.

Harvard is now ‘in talks’ with the Trump administration as reported by the NY Times. Legal cases are being pursued by both sides simultaneously