Defend Harvard! Defend education!
Straight Out of the Authoritarian Playbook: Attacks on Education
The Trump administration has been attacking education in this country. It has made attacks on the Department of Education. 50% of the workforce at the Department of Education has been laid off and there are significant cuts in funding of educational programs there. This is part of the authoritarian playbook. It is easier to control people who do not think for themselves.
The Supreme Court issued a decision that ended affirmative action based on race. Many colleges and universities are capitulating in anticipation of what the administration might do by laying off staff related to DEI. The White House has stripped hundreds of millions of research funds from the University of California, Los Angeles. Harvard University has been a main target of the Trump administration and is fighting back. Harvard is one of the few universities that is FIGHTING BACK!
Now the administration is making even more attacks against Harvard. One course of attack is against Harvard’s enrolling international students. A new course of attack is against the university’s patents.
On Friday August 8th the Commerce Department stated it would investigate whether Harvard was complying with federal regulations and laws related to intellectual property that develops from government-backed research. Howard W. Lutnick, Commerce Secretary, sent a letter to Alan M. Garber, Harvard’s president. In the letter he claimed Harvard had not met its obligations related to federally funded patents. Mr. Lutnick did not include any evidence that Harvard had broken the law, but he said that the Commerce Department thought that the university had done so.
The patents that universities get from government-backed research are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In the letter Lutnick said they would start a thorough review to see whether Harvard complied with federal law. Mr. Lutnick made all of these claims without any evidence.
Patents are an important source of money for research universities. There is an array of regulatory requirements universities have to follow. If they don’t follow them, the federal government can snatch away very valuable assets from a university.
Harvard responded to Lutnick’s letter by saying that it was a form of retaliation against Harvard for defending its freedoms and rights. Harvard says the administration is retaliating against the university because it has refused to let the White House control its ideology of students and faculty, its curriculum and how it governs itself.
Harvard already has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration with respect to funding cuts.
CALL TO ACTION
Crimson Courage, a Harvard Alumni group for academic freedom, is asking activists to sign and share this letter to the President and Fellows of Harvard University. You don’t have to be affiliated with Harvard to sign. Sign the petition here.
Contribute to Harvard’s legal defense via Crimson Courage.
What is happening at your Alma Mater? Find out what is happening at your college. Is it kowtowing to Trump’s demands on cutting DEI, limiting academic freedom, collaborating with ICE, or otherwise hurting its faculty and staff? Is it, on the other hand, standing strong and resisting the Trump regime? It’s up to you as a current student, employee or alumnus: Join your local alumni group, and let people know how your college is doing.