Donald Trump ( AP ) and Harvard University
Harvard University, one of the most prominent educational institutions in the world, was established in 1636. Numerous Nobel laureates and eight US president have been produced there. However, Donald Trump, the current US president, has referred to Harvard as” a JOK E” and said he doesn’t find it funny. Trump claims that the school instructs students on “hate and idiocy” and employs “woke, extreme left, idiots” He claimed in a blog on his own social media platform, Truth Social, in mid-April that this was the reason Harvard” may no longer obtain federal money.” Government agencies soon frozen$ 2.2 billion ( approximately$ 2.2 billion ). A state hatred task force then informed the university leadership that additional funding was being cut in May. The Trump presidency more escalated the fight on May 22. Kristi Noem, the secretary of state for homeland security, revoked the school’s authorization to accept students from other countries in a letter. If Harvard wanted to restore its license, the university had a 72-hour date to provide certain information about foreign students. Harvard immediately brought legal action against the government, and the following morning, US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs delivered a first authorized success in their favor. She agreed with the government’s claim that the government’s order would “immediate and catastrophic injury” and had temporarily halted the order pending a second hearing.
What explanation does the Trump administration have for its behavior?
As Trump himself and many of those near to him have repeatedly stated, they are upset that, in their eyes, left-wing information and ideas dominate Harvard’s teaching and research. However, the US Constitution explicitly states that the state can only hinder conversation freedom in a select few, very specific circumstances. More than 100 US institutions signed an open letter last month in protest of “unprecedented government overreach and social interference” and the legal justification for the money breaks. Israel’s reaction to the terrorist assault that occurred on October 7, 2023, was called the “war.” There have been numerous studies that Israeli students have been the target of racist attacks during demonstrations in the US. Hamas is viewed as a criminal organization by the US, Germany, Israel, and different nations, as well as by Germany, Israel, and other nations.
Why is Harvard on the radar of the US state?
Around 60 institutes have been funded by the new US state, or have threatened to do so. For instance, it canceled$ 400 million of federal money from Columbia University in New York in March, claiming that the school administration had” continued inaction” in response to “repeated abuse of Jewish students.” Columbia also sued the leadership over the money, but it nonetheless adhered to several other government demands, including changing the management of the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and American Studies. Despite this, the US Department of Health and Human Services still supported the claim of silence. Harvard, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a district only outside Boston, is so far the only college to boldly disagree with the government’s needs. Due to having an endowment of more than$ 50 billion, one of the reasons it can afford to challenge the government is a part of the reason why. The government may presently target this endowment.
What might Harvard gain from the new methods?
If the leadership is successful in preventing international students from enrolling at Harvard, several international students will gain their US residence permits unless they can enroll at a different universities. Harvard would also be deprived of its global expertise by doing so. Around 6, 800 non-US citizens are enrolled in the university, which pays about$ 400,000 in tuition annually from them. The tuition is the same for US students, earning around$ 59,000 annually, but many students receive scholarships from the school. So, Harvard makes more money overall from foreign pupils than from American students. Additionally, the US government may start levying high taxes on college endowments capital gains. Investment funds are mainly invested in securities, which generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Trump introduced a 1.4 % capital gains tax for colleges with endowments greater than$ 500, 000 per pupil during his first term in office. He now proposes to increase the tax rate on capital gains on endowments in the highest category, which is$ 2 million per student, at 21 %. According to the economist Phillip Levine in the USA Today national newspaper, the new scheme could result in tax bills of between$ 400 and$ 800 million for elite universities like Yale, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, and, of course, Harvard.
What demands does the US government have on Harvard?
The US government is allegedly requesting that Harvard employ radical reforms by August 2025 in a letter sent by three government organizations to the school administration in an effort to counteract what it thinks is the supremacy of left-wing beliefs at Harvard characteristics. These changes include the introduction of new rules to restrict the “power” of faculty and students, particularly those who are more active than academically. According to the letter, jobs and analyze places should be determined only based on merit in the future: The school had “cease all preferences based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.” Defined programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion ( DEI ) will be discontinued. Additionally, it claims that the reforms will increase the diversity of viewpoints and stop students from being “hostile” to” American values and institutions.” Judge Burroughs, who temporarily obstructed the government order on Friday, has scheduled a hearing for May 29 to decide whether or not the hold should be lifted. These are presumably just the start of what could turn out to be a protracted legal battle.
