Harvard President Stands Up Against Trump

Harvard University on Monday rejected demands from the Trump administration as it threatens the school’s federal funding as part of a broader clampdown on higher education. The university said that while it is and will continue to engage in reforms, those changes should not be mandated by Washington.

“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” wrote President Alan Garber.
In response, the administration said it would freeze $2.2 billion in multi year grants to Harvard, along with a $60 million contract.

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MistyCee

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.

31% of Americans believed in Trump and put voted against humanity.

ElwoodBlues · M

@MistyCee Actually, I believe Harvard's tax exempt status is written into the 1780 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a document still in force and older than the US Constitution.

MistyCee

@ElwoodBlues Interesting. I doubt Trump's IRS would care much about a State Constitution.

ElwoodBlues · M

@MistyCee I haven't a clue. Do you know any constitutional scholars? Obama used to teach con law and he says what Tяump is trying to do to academic freedom is illegal. but maybe that's hyperbole.

MistyCee

@ElwoodBlues I do know folks who teach Con Law, but the analysis with this SCOTUS is pretty all over the place.

I wouldn't call it hyperbole, though. The thing is that if five justices agree that a President is immune, that the militia clause is meaningless, that the 14th Amendment or any other Constitutional provision means something different, than that's the law, no matter how "wrong" it may seem to others.

Law Professors can scream all they want about precedent, interpretation, public policy, etc, but my guess is that the Roberts Court will end up slow walking rather than resisting this Executive branch for as long as it's able to without any assistance from the Legislative Branch and practically zero enforcement power.