Good post by Purdue economics professors, Jay Akridge and David Hummels, (not exactly lefty firebrands) on the administration’s “Dear Harvard” letter and the threat it poses not just to Harvard, but to universities generally. Akridge and Hummels write a blog called “Finding Equilibrium” focused on the future of higher education.
Under the veneer of civil rights concerns, the executive branch is demanding changes to Harvard’s governance, departmental structure, faculty hiring, student admissions, and student conduct policies. In addition, the demands require extensive and intrusive new reporting and audit requirements on all the above, along with punitive actions taken against particular departments based on the content of their scholarship. It wants to impose quotas in faculty hiring and student admissions based on a federally mandated conception of “viewpoint diversity.”
When Harvard declined the executive branch’s demands, Trump indicated his intent to retaliate by using the IRS as leverage.
Say the economics professors:
“It’s old, rich, elite Harvard. The vast majority of higher education institutions look nothing like Harvard with respect to financial resources, selectivity, student profile, research reputation, alumni achievements,…so?
Let’s be clear. This represents perhaps the most dangerous moment in the history of the modern university. The Trump administration is threatening nothing less than the financial destruction of the world’s leading university. That is, unless Harvard complies with what they (Harvard) regard as a series of clearly illegal and unconstitutional demands, and put every aspect of their operation under the systematic control of the federal government.
Again, you might think this is an Ivy League problem and not relevant to the rest of higher education, but that would be wrong. It is no accident that first Columbia and now Harvard have been targeted, with Penn, Princeton, Cornell, Northwestern, and Brown next in line, and the list of “concerning” universities growing by the day. If the strongest and best-resourced universities are brought to heel, the rest will follow. And as should be clear from Columbia’s capitulation, agreeing to the administration’s initial demands does not resolve matters. It invites additional penalties and more aggressive intervention.”
The entire thing is worth a read.
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