Harvard Having Second Thoughts About Leading the Resistance

This post was originally published on this site

Harvard earned a lot of praise last month for standing up to the Trump administration. For example:

Congratulations to Harvard for refusing to relinquish its constitutional rights to Trump’s authoritarianism.

Other universities should follow their lead.

And instead of doing pro bono work for Trump, cowardly law firms should be defending those who believe in the rule of law.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 14, 2025

The Trump administration responded by pulling federal funding, just as it had done previously at Columbia University. Harvard took things up another notch and sued the administration. But even as all this was happening there were reports that, behind the scenes, both Harvard and the administration were looking to make a deal. And by the end of last month, there were signs that Harvard was softening its stance a bit.

Harvard will no longer host or fund affinity group celebrations during Commencement, the University’s former diversity office wrote in an email to affinity groups on Monday afternoon.

The decision comes months after the U.S. Department of Education threatened another wave of funding cuts if the University did not cancel graduation celebrations that might separate students based on race.

The school also renamed its diversity office, changing the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging into the office of Community and Campus Life.” There was no overarching announcement about these changes. The school never said it was trying to comply with some of the administration’s demands, but that was certainly how it looked.

Today, the NY Times reports some Harvard administrators are having second thoughts about leading the resistance. Maybe they’d be better off making a deal.

…behind the scenes, several senior officials at Harvard and on its top governing board believe that the university is confronting a crisis that could last until President Trump is out of power, according to three people involved in the discussions. Even if Harvard’s legal case is successful, these officials say, the school will still face enormous troubles that may force the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university to rethink its identity and scale…

University leaders believe the only clear options are either working with Mr. Trump or somehow securing huge sums of money quickly, perhaps from private donors, the three people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had not been authorized to discuss school officials’ private deliberations…

“They can make your life unpleasant, even if they’re violating the law and a court ultimately determines they’re violating the law,” said Samuel R. Bagenstos, who was general counsel of the Health and Human Services Department during the Biden administration.

Why would Harvard need to raise “huge sums of money” when they already have the largest endowment of any US college ($53 billion)? The answer is that they can’t actually use that money as they please.

Harvard recently issued $750 million in bonds, and its endowment is valued at more than $53 billion. But most of the endowment money is restricted, meaning that it cannot be spent at will.

So for now, Harvard is sticking with resistance even though it’s likely to drag on for months.

…the Harvard Corporation, the board that oversees the university, has decided to stay the course and keep fighting. Board members are acutely sensitive to the uproar that followed when Columbia University and major law firms like Paul, Weiss cut deals with Mr. Trump, according to two of the three people involved in the discussions…

The corporation has told the school’s lawyers not to engage with the Trump administration, according to the two people involved in discussions…

Harvard is seeking a speedy end to its pending case against the government, but the next hearing is not until July. Appeals could extend the battle, too, stripping Harvard of money and time.

The comments on this one are full of progressives urging Harvard to stay the course, not matter what the cost.

Based on what’s reported here, I hope that some big donors offer significant assistance or have already done so. If that does not happen, though, I hope that Harvard holds to the high ground and endures, smaller but free, until Trump leaves office, even if it must shrink substantially.

That’s easy to say when you have no skin in the game. Others make clear this isn’t about Harvard it’s about the resistance.

The energy changed the day Harvard stood up to Trump: the shock and awe of Project 2025 hit its first wall.  This gave many outside of MAGA hope that not all our institutions would crumble.  It gave a boost to others to stand tall and fight back.  If Harvard buckles, the resistance in American will lose an inspiring vision of courage and leadership. I sincerely hope the institution understands that truth.

This is what they signed up for but it seems like a short-sighted approach given that the school has a) already agreed to some of the administration’s demands and b) just released a report demonstrating that antisemitism on campus was real and pervasive. At least a few commenters seem to get it. This is a losing battle.

Harvard does not have a right to Federal funding. No private institution does. Harvard will lose this argument. Harvard has hurt itself. I read a comment from a liberal professor who said Harvard and other colleges drove out conservative professors and all balance in teaching was lost.  Hence, The GOP and many others are now angry with Harvard and are engaged in payback. A balanced faculty keeps everyone honest and on the level. Harvard lost this.

Harvard should at least talk to the administration and see if they can find a middle ground. They’ve already tacitly admitted that some of the demands were reasonable.