Tag: Harvard University

Commentary: Let the Donor Revolution Begin

RealClearWire

The donor revolts at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and elsewhere are the long-overdue wake up calls that their faculty and administrators needed. The overwhelming majority of politically progressive faculty and administrators have long guarded their right to advance their cherished political causes inside and outside the classroom, while punishment has awaited those who challenge the shibboleths. Instead of the free exchange of ideas and the intellectual capaciousness that ultimately advance social justice, it is now clearer than ever that it is not social justice they have fostered but mindless ideology and hate.

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Elite Universities That Defended Free Speech for Hamas Supporters Have Long Record of Canceling Conservatives

Connecticut Star Staff

Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) released statements defending students’ pro-Hamas speech after campus protests, but in the past have muzzled conservatives for speech and online statements.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay and UPenn President Elizabeth Magill both said their respective universities support “free expression” in statements made after pro-Palestinian rallies at the colleges following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel. In the past, however, conservative speakers and professors at the universities have frequently been shouted down, and some have been canceled for online statements.

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Alan Dershowitz Commentary: Harvard Must Condemn Pro-Hamas Students

Connecticut Star Staff
Outside of Harvard Law School

There’s an ongoing debate on university campuses about whether and how to respond to students who support, defend or even praise what Hamas terrorists deliberately did to innocent Israeli children, the elderly and other civilians.

On the one hand, there are free-speech and academic-freedom considerations.

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Biden Admin Opens Federal Investigation into Harvard University over Legacy Admissions

Connecticut Star Staff

Biden’s Department of Education (DOE) officially opened an investigation Monday into Harvard to determine whether or not the university’s use of legacy admissions violate the Civil Rights Act, according to a letter from the DOE.

The DOE’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) opened the investigation to determine whether or not Harvard discriminates on the basis of race by having donor and legacy admissions preferences after a complaint was filed on behalf of several activist organizations including The Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England and the Greater Boston Latino Network, according to a letter from the DOE to Lawyers for Civil Rights. The complaint follows on the heels of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down race-based affirmative action admissions policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

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Defiant Harvard Vows to Continue to Use Race in Admissions Decisions

Admin

Harvard University said it plans to continue to use race as a factor in admissions in the wake of the 6-3 Supreme Court decision last week that ruled affirmative action enrollment decisions are unconstitutional.

A June 29 memo to the Harvard community from President Lawrence Bacow and more than a dozen deans and provosts cited a line in the ruling that states colleges and universities may consider in admissions decisions “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”

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New Documentary Exposes Ivy League Privilege and the Students it Shuts Out

Admin

“Exclusion U,” a feature documentary released this year, details how Ivy League universities accumulate billions of dollars as they restrict class sizes, turn away qualified students, and favor the children of the rich.

“Ivy League endowments are worth $193 billion dollars, but they only educate 0.3 percent of U.S. undergrads,” the film’s narrator stated. “That’s less than 63,000 students.”

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Former Harvard Chair Who Lied About Chinese Payoff Sentenced to Two Days in Prison

Admin

Former Harvard chemistry chair Charles Lieber received two days in prison, six months house arrest, and a fine for hiding Chinese government affiliations and a $50,000 monthly salary.

Harvard also allowed him to retire quietly.

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Harvard University Denied Tax Cut After Lobbying to Senate Democrats

Admin

Harvard University’s request for an endowment tax cut was denied despite frequent lobbying to Senate Democrats for its inclusion in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 with tax increases on corporations and energy firms but did not include plans to lower the endowment tax, which is tax paid on income from individual donors to colleges, according to the bill.  Senior Executive Director of Federal Relations at Harvard University Suzanne Day sent an email in July urging Democratic Senators to eliminate the tax in the upcoming bill.

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Harvard to Shell Out $100 Million to ‘Redress’ Its ‘Legacies with Slavery’

Admin

Harvard University will allocate $100 million to study and address its history with slavery, according to a Tuesday announcement from the university’s president.

The university released a report from the Committee on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery and announced a $100 million fund to implement the report’s recommendations, according to an announcement from President Larry Bacow. The report listed numerous recommendations including how Harvard “can redress” its “legacies with slavery” through teaching, research and service.

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