The Harvard University Collaboration with the Defense Intelligence Task Force: Why do we need to redouble our commitment to the good of the nation and the world?
Garber: I would say that we need to be firm in our commitments to what we stand for. Education, pursuit of the truth, and helping to educate people for better futures are what we stand for. And hopefully our own students, after they graduate from our institutions, go out and serve the world. In the end, we’re about producing and disseminating knowledge and serving our nation and our world. We can expect to be attacked when we fail in that. So number one, I think we all need to redouble our commitment to the good of the nation and the world. My fellow leaders are all very supportive of that.
A government official said that Harvard University’s remaining federal contracts were worth $100 million and were being canceled by the Trump administration.
Why don’t we fund research? Sure, it hurts Harvard, but it hurts the country because after all, the research funding is not a gift,” Garber said, adding that these dollars are awarded to efforts deemed “high-priority work” by the federal government.
As evidence of how his university’s work directly benefits the U.S. public, Garber points to recent honors awarded to Harvard faculty by the Breakthrough Prize, known as “The Oscars of Science,” for their work on obesity and diabetes drugs and gene editing, used to correct disease-causing genetic variations.
Harvard’s lack of compliance “reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges,” the Joint Task Force stated in an April statement. The disruption of learning that has happened in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It’s time for elite universities to commit to change in order to continue receiving taxpayer support.
Garber: Well, clearly, there has been tremendous division on campus over that period of time. There are faculty and students who disagreed with one another about what the university should do. The report was used to identify the problems that we face with regard to our Jewish and Israeli students. We are currently working through a few of the recommendations we have already adopted. But I do believe that we have a real problem in this regard, or we had a real problem. We have done a lot to address it and we will continue to work at it.
Inskeep: In the letter cutting off your ability to host international students, the Department of Homeland Security made a number of accusations, including that Harvard, brazenly refused to provide information that was demanded about international students and that you also “ignored a follow up question about them.” Is either of those statements true?
They are not true, that’s what I know. This is the subject of litigation, as you mentioned earlier, I need to add. So we have endeavored to comply fully in line with the law.
In response to allegations from the administration that the university has failed to protect Jewish students on campus, Garber said the school has made substantial and real progress over the past year.
An example of a university that supports cancer research: Harvard International students should’stand firm’ (Trump lawsuit funding of cancer research universities, not elite schools)
Is that an example of the things you’re trying to do? You want to allow all sorts of ideas, but you want people to be able to engage each other civilly.
It’s absolutely true. We want people to discuss difficult topics with one another, even if they disagree. We shouldn’t be in that room. Everyone in our community needs to hear other views. And let me add, that’s one reason why it is so important for us to be able to have international students on our campus. They help to open up people’s minds and contribute so much to the environment.
Inskeep: If someone in the middle of the country is listening to us, then what would you say to them? I didn’t go to Harvard. My kid will not be going to Harvard. I really don’t like Harvard that much. This appears to be about a different group of people. Harvard deserves what they’re getting. I don’t care much if it is in any case. What would you say to somebody who has that attitude?
Garber: I would ask them to learn a little bit more, not only about Harvard, but about universities like Harvard – that is research universities. The center of the university is teaching and learning. If you look at the activities of the university, a lot of them are about research. There’s so many discoveries that have come from Harvard and other research universities, advances in cancer and treatments of cancer of all kinds.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: A Warning to Universities to Address Cutbacks to Research in the U.S. Government
Garber: I would say that the federal government has the authority through the budgeting process to reallocate funds. But the question to ask is what problem is he trying to solve by doing that? The money that goes to research universities in the form of grants and contracts, which is almost all of the federal support that we get, is used to pay for work that we perform at the behest of the government. So in reallocating to some other use, including trade schools, it means that work just won’t be performed. Is this the best use of federal funding? Do you want to cut back on research? I’m less concerned about whether it goes to a trade school or if it goes to some other project, like working on highways. The real question is, how much value does the federal government get from its expenditures on research? There is a lot of actual research demonstrating the returns to the American people have been enormous.
Garber: Well, they said it and I have to believe it, and I’ve repeated it myself. The leaders of other universities think that way as well. It’s a warning. They see this as a message that if you don’t comply with what we’re demanding, these will be the consequences.
The letter states that agencies need to submit a list of their terminated contracts with the university by June 6.
“Going forward, we also encourage your agency to seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered Harvard,” reads the letter, signed by Josh Gruenbaum, the commissioner of the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.
The government official, who was not authorized to speak, verified the authenticity of the letter published in the New York Times.