As a current Harvard student, I could have written this with an understandable bias to defend my soon-to-be alma mater, even if I haven’t agreed with their initial handling of student protests. But, as I read the letter that the Trump administration wrote to Harvard University, another identity decided it needed to speak instead. That of a Marine veteran who served this country.
Like many Harvard students, I started off my Monday seeing President Alan Garber’s email to the entire Harvard community pledging to fight the demands by the Trump administration to concede changes to the university structure or lose funding. Of course, in this world of partisanship most people have already decided where they want to be in this fight.
MAGA Republicans are beside themselves with glee that one man can cripple the country’s oldest institution of higher learning as well as any other institution that makes him mad. And of course, on the other side, are Never-Trumpers who will fight against anything President Trump says. However, in this incredibly nuanced world that we like to paint over with broad strokes, there is truth to criticism of the university.
Many people feel that Harvard didn’t do enough to protect Jewish students and faculty when protests broke out on the conflict in Gaza. And they are correct. Like many other campuses, Harvard Yard became a battleground and attracted characters that seemed more intent on degrading Jews than stopping carnage in Gaza. Or even worse, using the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza to push a culture of intolerance here in the United States.
Harvard had a lot of pushback from angry alumni, the most prominent being Bill Ackman, who threatened everything from doxxing current students, withholding donations and refusing to hire pro-Palestinian protestors. Here is the thing; that worked. Harvard started to make moves over the last 15 months from barring students from waking at graduation to dismissing leaders of the Middle Eastern Studies Center.
It seemed like Harvard does listen to its very powerful alumni base while also trying to maintain the right to speech on campus. It’s a tricky line that will never make everyone happy, but it’s the right way to do things.
Then came the letter. I encourage you to read it. Because Trump’s demands are not consistent with the values of the U.S. Instead, he seems to be channeling a Soviet-style approach to regulating our education. This is inherently dangerous and must be challenged by every university. Trump’s demands that the viewpoints of students, faculty and staff be subjected to an “audit” goes against everything sacred in the First Amendment.
Remember in “Harry Potter” when the Ministry of Magic decided to put a stooge in the school and crack down on any thinking that the government didn’t approve of? Made you mad, didn’t it? Well, Trump wants an external party (aka the government) to determine whether students are not just being antisemitic but also if they are being ideologically compliant with whatever Trump demands of them. Read that again. The federal government is demanding to have oversight and punish students, teachers and staff who have a different ideology than the president of the United States. As a veteran, this is an appalling demand that belongs in the era of history we called the Soviet Union.
People like to think the strongest aspect of America is our military or our economy. You can make arguments for both, but I would say our university system is also one of our greatest strengths. Whether it be private institutions like Harvard, public schools like Michigan or the community colleges where many of us start our academic pursuits, higher education has provided Americans with some of the best advancements.
From cancer research to computer science to space exploration to vaccine development, our universities are the backbone of this country’s economic and scientific progress. They are also step ladders into a world of economic and financial opportunity. Why should we Americans tolerate seeing one man try to destroy this crown jewel of America because he wants universities to submit to a federal thought police?
How does defunding cancer research prevent antisemitism? It doesn’t, nor do any of the demands made in Trump’s extortion letter. Universities, whether they get federal funding or not, should not have to abandon the First Amendment right to pursue truth in order to do cancer research.
It is easy to beat up on universities nowadays. Anti-intellectualism has taken root and we seem to be convinced that the schools that provide us with our best and brightest are now somehow working to destroy this country. As a Marine veteran, I can tell you Harvard is no more a radical communist haven than my undergraduate alma mater, Ohio State or any other school in the United States.
You will find as many similar thinkers at the University of Iowa or Texas A&M. Universities will always foster controversial dialogue and, yes, they need to do a better job of not suppressing opinions. President Barack Obama himself said students should not be “coddled and protected from different viewpoints.”
That is the struggle of having a First Amendment on diverse college campuses where everyone is encouraged to speak their mind. Yes, it can devolve into the problems that Harvard and other schools faced in the post Oct. 7 world. But the responsibility to guide, monitor, and address oversteps of free speech should be handled by the school with guidance from the alumni. It should not or ever be from a Big Brother oversight board hellbent on thought control.
Jos Joseph is a master’s candidate at the Harvard Extension School at Harvard University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and lives in Anaheim, Calif.