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Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Harvard faculty has not — and will not — cave to Trump demands
While Harvard decision-makers have Advertisement This myopic focus on the university's administration ignores a truth fundamental to the future of American higher education: Salvation does not and cannot lie in the hands of the Harvard Corporation — the university's secretive, self-appointed governing board made up of financiers and power players. Universities are much more than the individuals who come to campus a few times a year to review high-level operations. Advertisement The role of faculty is fundamental. We are the teachers, researchers, and writers who have committed our professional lives to learning and free inquiry, working together with students to advance truth with rigor, independence, and integrity for the collective benefit of society. That commitment means that, unlike our distant governing boards, we will not give up so easily — no matter what kind of deals are signed in our name. At Harvard, for instance, while the university's leadership has earned well-deserved plaudits for its legal challenges to the most egregious of Trump's punitive measures, it was not, in fact, the administrators who took that bold step first. It was the faculty. When the Trump administration started threatening Harvard, the university leadership's initial response worryingly pointed toward accommodation, seeking compromise at the bargaining table and implementing controversial internal changes that echoed the demands coming from the federal government. As Perry Bacon, a staff writer for the New Republic, recently Advertisement By contrast, faculty, students, and alumni This pattern — in which faculty, students, staff, and alumni lead and university leadership follows — has been repeated at the national level. Researchers in the University of California system Advertisement Members of university boards can retreat to their day jobs, but for the broader university community, the Trump administration's attacks are truly existential. It is our colleagues who have seen their clinical trials suspended, their years-long collaborative projects canceled, and — especially if they work on topics disfavored by the Trump administration, like climate change, racial and gender equity, or Middle East politics — their speech chilled or suppressed on issues central to their professional expertise. While the restoration of unlawfully canceled funding is critical, achieving that cannot come at the expense of academic freedom and intellectual independence. One AAUP member, a computer scientist who has lost nearly all his research funding, penned a personal note to Harvard's president last week, expressing alarm at the prospect of a deal with the government. He wrote movingly of how difficult it has been to watch the foundations of his identity — as a child of immigrants and a scholar dedicated to advancing knowledge — come under withering assault. 'But I am willing to endure that pain,' he continued, 'if by being here at Harvard, I am part of the fight to restore the values of the country. If Harvard settles, I do not know if that will be the case anymore.' Those values are more important now than ever. If trustees are willing to engage in extortionate backroom dealings with political operatives, it must be the role of faculty, staff, students, and alumni to protect academic freedom, university independence and free speech. In our own lawsuit on behalf of Harvard, we will not trade these principles away. We will fight against any substantive changes to faculty hiring and tenure reviews; any 'exceptional' treatment of some academic units and centers; any policy favoring or disfavoring applicants for admission, hiring, or appointment on the basis of political viewpoint; any sharing of information about Harvard affiliates with the government beyond what is legally required for legitimate purposes; and any appointment of an external overseer. Advertisement Cash payouts to resolve allegations of illegality that have never been properly established or investigated, as at Columbia, are unacceptable; sacrificing non-gender-conforming community members to satisfy the Trump administration's retrograde gender ideology, as at Brown and Penn, is unacceptable. It will take more than lawsuits to preserve what remains of this country's democracy. But the forms of student and faculty action mentioned here point the way. Corporate boards of trustees are not synonymous with the universities themselves, and they are not the ones most motivated to defend the core values of higher education. We are. And we won't capitulate.
New York Times
26-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Harvard's Powerful Leader Faces Intense Scrutiny in Trump Fight
In the high-stakes negotiations between the Trump administration and Harvard University, the White House and a growing number of people at Harvard have at least one shared goal. They want Penny Pritzker, the head of the university's top governing board, out. Ms. Pritzker holds a powerful post as the leader of the Harvard Corporation that in normal times is also a quiet one. The corporation is the equivalent of a board of trustees at any other academic institution and is mostly focused on fund-raising, strategy and picking the university's president. But for Harvard, these are far from normal times. The government has cut billions in federal funds to the school and tried to ban international students — a quarter of its enrollment — from attending. The school has sued the government twice in the last several months, even as it tries to negotiate an end to a conflict that has forced painful belt-tightening. As Harvard's problems pile up, Ms. Pritzker's leadership has been called into question. On campus, prominent professors and donors are wondering whether she should go. And two Trump administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as delicate negotiations continue, say the hope is that the government's pressure campaign on the school will lead to her ouster. Ms. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, has donated $100 million to Harvard for a new economics building. She has close ties with the Democratic Party and her family has a history of bad blood with President Trump. She has also faced criticism over her handling of the controversy surrounding Harvard's former president, Claudine Gay, who resigned under pressure last year. Now, some people tied to the school say that Ms. Pritzker has become a distraction that seems to be hurting rather than helping the university's efforts to beat back an onslaught of Trump administration attacks. They suggested that she could be a concession whose resignation could help Harvard's efforts to negotiate with the White House, if she would only agree to leave. A dozen people, including friends, professors, alumni, major donors and Trump officials, discussed Ms. Pritzker's role and future at the school. Several asked not to be identified because they worried about endangering Harvard's talks with the administration. One administration official said that Ms. Pritzker's resignation has not been explicitly included as part of any offers. But unofficially, Trump officials have discussed a desire for her to leave to show Harvard's commitment to making changes. Some argued that there was a legitimate need to add fresh attitudes and skills to the board, though they conceded that such a move could be misconstrued as capitulation. 'The corporation should be accountable for some of the problems that have existed, and the chair of the corporation would be a natural person to be subject to turnover at a time like this,' said Dr. Jeffrey Flier, a former dean of the Harvard Medical School who has criticized both the Trump administration's interference in higher education and universities over free speech concerns. A prominent academic at Harvard suggested that Ms. Pritzker's departure would be a small price to pay. Unlike many of the demands that the Trump administration is making of the school, losing the board's leader would not compromise Harvard's academic freedom. But since the corporation is a self-appointing body, any change in its membership would have to come from within. Ms. Pritzker also retains many supporters at Harvard, who say she has led the school well through multiple crises. They point to her business and political expertise, and argue that a more reserved leadership style is what the post calls for at the moment. Jason Furman, who worked with Ms. Pritzker at the White House during the Obama administration and is now an economics professor at Harvard, said he believed the Harvard community is enthusiastic about its current leaders. 'A year ago, there were many people that were upset with the leadership, and now people are just generally quite unified,' he said, and 'quite reflexively against the idea that you would do something for Donald Trump.' Ms. Pritzker, 66, declined to be interviewed for this article. A spokesman for Harvard declined to comment. As the battle between Harvard and the White House enters what could be its final phase, Ms. Pritzker is in the fray, a close business associate said. She talks to Dr. Alan Garber, Harvard's president, every day, sometimes more than once a day, this associate said. And as the head of a corporation with the power to hire and fire the president, Ms. Pritzker has an outsize influence. Friends said she was unlikely to give in. Vivian Riefberg, who has known Ms. Pritzker since they met as freshmen at Harvard in the late '70s, said Ms. Pritzker cares most about 'seeking constructive engagement.' 'Some people like a fight. She likes to make a difference,' said Ms. Riefberg, a professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Ms. Pritzker was elected to the 13-member corporation in 2018. The members are quaintly known as 'fellows,' and she became the first woman to lead the board in 2022. Her first major decision was picking Dr. Gay as Harvard's president. Ms. Pritzker stood at the new president's side throughout the inauguration ceremony in 2023, beaming through her blocky glasses as speakers celebrated Dr. Gay as Harvard's first Black president. Three months later, Dr. Gay's tenure ended. She had flubbed a question in a congressional hearing about whether calling for genocide against Jews broke Harvard's rules. Dr. Gay was also accused of plagiarism. In the firestorm that followed, Bill Ackman, the Pershing Square hedge fund founder and a Harvard graduate, criticized Dr. Gay — but also Ms. Pritzker, for not doing due diligence before hiring her. After Dr. Gay resigned, Mr. Ackman called for Ms. Pritzker and other members of the corporation to follow suit. In May, Mr. Ackman again posted a call for Ms. Pritzker to step down. While she might be 'a fine person,' he wrote on X, 'she has led Harvard during a period of substantial damage to the institution's global reputation, the explosion of antisemitism on campus, and dramatic deterioration in Harvard's financial wherewithal.' Harvard has defended itself vociferously, though its leaders have said that they recognize that there are problems with antisemitism on campus and have been working to address them. The Trump administration has taken note of Mr. Ackman's criticism, however. Linda McMahon, the education secretary, sent a letter to Harvard saying that it should no longer seek grants from the government 'since none will be provided.' In her letter, Ms. McMahon cited Mr. Ackman. She also wrote, 'The Harvard Corporation, which is supposed to competently and professionally manage Harvard's vast academic, financial and physical resources, is run by strongly left-leaning Obama political appointee Penny Pritzker, a Democrat operative, who is catastrophic and running the institution in a totally chaotic way.' Many at Harvard believe that being so conspicuously branded as allied with one political party has become a handicap for Ms. Pritzker. She was the national finance chair of Barack Obama's first presidential campaign, and secretary of commerce in the second Obama administration. Her brother, JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, has established himself as an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump and is expected to run for president in 2028. Ms. Riefberg, her college friend, said Ms. Pritzker was able to transcend partisan politics. She recalled that she had been almost unanimously confirmed by the Senate as commerce secretary in 2013. (Senator Bernie Sanders was the lone dissenter.) The Pritzker family's conflicts with the president precede the current battle between Harvard and the government. Her uncle, Jay Pritzker, who established the Hyatt hotel chain with Ms. Pritzker's father, feuded with Mr. Trump over a hotel deal made in the '70s. 'There I was, at the lowest point of my financial life,' Mr. Trump told The New York Times in 1993, 'and they tried to force me to default or sell my hotel cheaply.' Mr. Trump promised to exact revenge. 'I always said, the first time I got back on my feet, the Pritzkers would be the first people I'd go after,' he told The Chicago Tribune in 1993. (Mr. Trump later sold his interest in the hotel.) As Mr. Trump attacks Harvard, alumni, faculty and donors have suggested that convincing taxpayers of Harvard's importance in American society has never been more urgent. But some complain that Ms. Pritzker has stayed out of the public eye. One alumnus who attended a dinner with her at the Harvard Club in New York remembers that she let Dr. Garber do all the talking and said little beyond hello, goodbye and thank you. In April, when the Trump administration issued a series of demands of Harvard, including exercising some control over hiring, teaching and admissions, it was Dr. Garber who signed a public letter saying that Harvard would fight. 'An elite institution like Harvard benefits from public support and is vested with public interest,' said Lloyd Blankfein, the former chief executive of Goldman Sachs and a Harvard graduate. 'Leadership and oversight here comes with high profile. Don't take the job if you're not prepared for that. Shyness is not a virtue.' Members of a presidential advisory group on antisemitism remember that Ms. Pritzker did respond after several of them threatened to resign. Beaming into a video meeting from an airplane, Ms. Pritzker, who is a practicing Jew, according to her friends, assured them that their suggestions were being heard. Ms. Pritzker's allies say that it is more effective for Harvard to unite behind one voice, in this case, Dr. Garber. 'She does not pick fights for the sake of fights or headlines or fun and excitement,' said Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts, a Democrat, who got to know Ms. Pritzker during the first Obama presidential campaign. Dr. Furman, the economics professor, said she was acting appropriately in her role. 'You hear from the C.E.O., you don't hear from the chairman,' Dr. Furman said. As head of the board, he added, 'you're not supposed to be the face, but you're supposed to be a very, very key person in shaping the decision.' Steven Levitsky, a Harvard political scientist who has been sharply critical of the Trump administration and urged Harvard to fight back, said Harvard's leadership was perceived by many faculty members to be more attentive to donors and outside interests than to faculty and students. Still, he said, 'I don't think the federal government should be using its leverage to force out the leadership of a private university. That's authoritarianism.' Supporters say she brings her considerable business knowledge to the table, noting she rose to the top in male-dominated industries. Ms. Pritzker, who graduated from Harvard in 1981, is now the head of PSP Partners, a private investment firm, and she is worth $4.1 billion. Harvard's corporation is stuffed with eminent figures from Big Law, big business and elite academia. Perhaps not accidentally, however, the corporation's politics have shifted somewhat. This year, Kannon Shanmugam, who clerked for Antonin Scalia, the conservative Supreme Court justice, replaced Ted Wells, a lawyer and Democratic Party donor. So far the shift has not seemed to help Harvard's case. In recent days, the Trump administration has only escalated its attacks on the school. The fight with the Trump administration has convinced some people at Harvard that its governance model might need radical change. 'It might not be enough for Penny Pritzker to leave Harvard,' said Kit Parker, a bioengineering and applied physics professor on Harvard's Council on Academic Freedom, a group dedicated to supporting diverse points of view. 'It might need to be something much bigger,' he said. He added, 'It's hard to hold any one person responsible for what has happened at Harvard over the last 10 years.' Changing the board, he said, 'might be the one thing they can agree on without anyone losing face.' Kirsten Noyes, Susan C. Beachy and Sheelagh McNeill contributed research. Michael C. Bender and Stephanie Saul contributed reporting.
New York Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
What Happens if ‘Harvard Is Not Harvard'?
As President Trump and his team dialed up the pressure on Harvard University last month, threatening to bar its international students, the school issued what was at once a warning and a plea. 'Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,' school officials wrote in a lawsuit asking a judge to stop the federal government's actions. It left unsaid what Harvard, if it were no longer Harvard, would become. It's a scenario that some inside Harvard are beginning to imagine and plan for as the Trump administration lobs attacks from all angles, seeking to cut the university off from both students and billions of dollars in federal funding. Top leaders at Harvard, one of the nation's oldest universities, including its provost, John F. Manning, a conservative legal scholar who once clerked for the former Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, are meeting more frequently to strategize. The school's board of trustees, the Harvard Corporation, has discussed whether hundreds, if not thousands, of people will need to be laid off. And on 8:30 a.m. Zoom calls once or twice a week, administrative officials meet with senior leaders of Harvard's undergraduate and graduate schools to share updates about the latest Trump developments, which keep coming rapid-fire. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
In a stunning first for US academia, Harvard revokes tenure for ethics scholar Francesca Gino over data manipulation
Harvard revokes tenure for ethics scholar Francesca Gino in unprecedented US academic case. (Getty Images) Harvard University has taken the extraordinary step of revoking tenure from Francesca Gino, a world-renowned ethics scholar, following an internal investigation that found evidence of data manipulation. This rare decision marks one of the most significant disciplinary actions in US higher education in recent decades and has ignited widespread debate on academic integrity and research ethics. The Harvard Corporation, the university's top governing board, confirmed the move this month, ending Gino's employment at Harvard Business School. Gino, celebrated internationally for her work on honesty and ethical behaviour, had faced serious allegations of academic misconduct and fraud, which she denied. Several sources told the WGBH News that the decision was communicated to business faculty during a confidential meeting last week. Feeling Alone While Studying Abroad? 7 Proven Tips to Build Real Connections and Friendships Investigation uncovers manipulated data in multiple studies Concerns about Gino's research surfaced in 2023 after a group of behavioural scientists running a blog called Data Colada flagged irregularities in some of her work. Harvard promptly launched an internal inquiry which concluded that Gino had manipulated data in at least four studies to support her hypotheses. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Todos os idosos deveriam ter um desse no banheiro! Veja só! Evite quedas e escorregões Saiba Mais Undo As a result, she was placed on unpaid administrative leave while the investigation proceeded. The university's disciplinary action is highly unusual. According to Harvard, stripping a professor of tenure is a step not taken for decades. In fact, WGBH News could not identify any prior example where the Harvard Corporation had revoked tenure entirely. Gino's case is now seen as a landmark moment that may prompt other universities to revisit how they handle allegations of scientific fraud. Lawsuit and court rulings deepen controversy In response to the allegations and investigation, Gino filed a $25 million lawsuit against Harvard, Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar, and the Data Colada bloggers. She claimed defamation, gender discrimination, and invasion of privacy, arguing the accusations irreparably harmed her reputation. However, a federal judge in Boston dismissed her defamation claims last September, ruling that as a public figure she was subject to scrutiny protected by the First Amendment, as reported by the WGBH. The legal battle and the university's disciplinary measures come at a tense moment for US higher education. The Department of Homeland Security recently moved to revoke Harvard's authority to enrol international scholars, who make up a quarter of its student body, unless the university hands over disciplinary records and protest footage. Harvard challenged this order in court, with a federal judge temporarily blocking the administration's action ahead of a scheduled hearing, as reported by the WGBH. Wider implications for US academia and international students M any Harvard professors familiar with the case expressed concern over rising anti-intellectualism and attacks on academic freedom, especially from the current Trump administration. Some fear that these pressures risk damaging US higher education's global standing and could deter talented researchers from both inside and outside the country. Gino, originally from Italy, has been a prominent figure internationally, delivering presentations to Fortune 500 companies worldwide. Over a third of Harvard Business School's MBA students come from abroad, contributing substantial tuition revenue that supports domestic students through financial aid. Legal experts suggest that tenure revocations like Gino's could become more common if universities more aggressively address academic misconduct. However, as quoted by the WGBH, some warn that overly strict policing might discourage innovation and risk attracting negative attention to institutions. This unprecedented case at Harvard serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing challenges facing US academia in balancing transparency, academic freedom, and research integrity. Ready to empower your child for the AI era? Join our program now! Hurry, only a few seats left.
New York Post
16-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Billionaire Bill Ackman calls on Harvard's powerful board to resign as ‘once-great' university flounders
Bill Ackman has called on the entire board of the Ivy League college to resign, accusing its members of 'presiding over the destruction of the once-great institution' over a fiddling response to antisemitism on campus. The 59-year-old hedge-fund billionaire, who for years has been at odds with his alma mater over its poor policing of Jew hatred, said 'only new leadership' of the Harvard Corporation, the university's governing body 'can fix this mess.' Ackman, worth an estimated $9 billion, responded to an article on X that suggested Harvard is breaking the law by adopting DEI hiring practices. Advertisement 3 Ackman, a Harvard alum, has been vocal about the school's issues. REUTERS 'Chair Penny Pritzker and the entire Harvard Corporation Board need to resign. They are presiding over the destruction of this once-great institution,' Ackman wrote. The Post has approached Harvard for comment. Advertisement Pritzker, whose father founded the Hyatt hotel chain, served in the second Obama administration as Commerce secretary, while her brother is the larger-than-life governor of Illinois, Democrat Party kingpin and staunch Donald Trump critic JB Pritzker. Just over 10 days ago, Ackman had backed the Trump administration's move to freeze federal grants to Harvard, accusing the college's tax-exempt $53 billion endowment of being poorly managed. Ackman has become an active user of Elon Musk's social media platform, regularly firing off missives to his 1.7 million followers about investing, Wall Street, and US politics. 3 Ackman accused leadership of failing to tackle hatred against Jews on campus. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement The staunch Israel supporter has repeatedly lambasted companies and colleges for failing to tackle anti-semitism after the Oct. 7 massacre that saw more than 1,200 innocent civilians killed by Palestinian terrorists. Ackman urged now-deposed Harvard president Claudine Gay to stand down over the anti-Semitic demonstrations on campus, but she eventually resigned in January of last year over a plagiarism scandal. The billionaire, who announced his resignation from the board of Universal Music Group on Wednesday, had also threatened to yank its stock exchange listing in Amsterdam after Jew-hating soccer thugs attacked fans of Israeli club Macabbi Tel Aviv. 3 Ackman demanded Claudine Gay, the first black president of Harvard, step down over anti-semitism on campus. She eventually quit over a plagarism scandal. David McGlynn Advertisement The Trump administration accuses the current Harvard leadership of failing to do enough to protect Jewish students, while it has opened a string of probes into the Cambridge, Mass. school. Harvard is currently suing the US government over its decision to freeze federal funding. The commander-in-chief previously said he wants to see Harvard stripped of its tax-exempt status as he presses for reforms at colleges he accuses of 'indoctrinating' students with 'radical left' ideas. Ackman rose to prominence in 2012 with a disastrous $1 billion short of Herbalife, the dietary supplements firm, with rival activist Carl Icahn taking an opposite stance on the company's future. The pair then had an infamous row live on CNBC over the issue the following year.
