Harvard University dropped a bombshell, becoming the first major institution to defy Donald Trump! The former president demanded Harvard ditch diversity programs, ban protest masks, and enforce merit-only hiring, threatening to yank billions in funding. He also pushed for viewpoint audits to curb what he calls leftist bias, aiming to reshape the Ivy League icon. Harvard said no way, refusing to bend to what they call unlawful overreach. This move risks over $2 billion in frozen grants, sparking a showdown that could inspire others to resist. Will Harvard gamble big and win, or will Trump pressure crush the academic giant? The battle for control is heating up fast!
Harvard Defies Trump! $2B Showdown Erupts!
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The TMI Show" talk show. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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This hits the nail on the head – though the Trump faction WITHIN the university boards is even whiter still:
Recently US university “trustees” [read: board of directors] have been increasingly taken over by nouveau riche from private equity and hedge funds.
A whopping *97%* of hedge fund and private equity guys are lily white males [ref Megan Neely].
[Incidentally there is academic research showing that “service” on these boards directly enriches those pale males indirectly through networking and directly as universities have been moonlighting as hedge funds and tax-exempt land buying machines]
Why would they need DEI, Arab or queer students (any students, really)?
But they may have overreached – it seems Harvard has waited for its moment of perceived weakness (the Tariff fiasco) to make some sort of stand.
On the bright side, these inter-elite fights show that the “private” universities are really institutions funded by public money under a thin private management veneer. Academics could run themselves just fine – a lot of the maintenance work is already being done by undergraduate students themselves working side jobs to be able to afford education in the first place…
hm
BTW, Ted, the commenting is now back on GoComics……………….fyi…………………….your latest DMZ.
Thank you, that’s good news.
…and we move another notch into the second American civil war…..
I recall Vonnegut’s statement about the impact of the artistic community against the Vietnam War having the same impact as a meringue pie dropped from a six-foot ladder. Who cares if Harvard puts up a fight? At the end of the day, Harvard drives the beemer back to the gated community where, totally by coincidence, 99% of the inhabitants are not black, and 104% are quite wealthy.
Harvard might talk a good game, but when you look at it up close, it’s got a lot of flaws.