
Harvard’s president says they should stand firm as Trump targets elite schools
The Harvard University Redux: The U.S. Embassy and the Trump Administration: Do We Really Have a Problem with Research Funding?
The United States administration banned Harvard University from recruiting foreign students, sparking an exodus of international students to Hong Kong universities.
The university’s ability to enroll international students was revoked last week by the Trump administration, after it decided to freeze more than 2 billion in research grants and contracts in April. The university is suing the federal government for both actions.
“Why should I stop funding research?” Sure, it hurts Harvard, but it’s not a gift, since the research funding is considered high-priority work by the federal government.
With elite U.S. universities in President Trump’s crosshairs, the leader of Harvard University says institutions need to double down on their “commitment to the good of the nation” and be firm in what they stand for.
The recent awards given to Harvard faculty for their work on the effects of Obesity and Diabetes show how the university’s work benefits the U.S. public.
After a federal judge blocked the administration’s attempt to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll international students last week, Trump posted on his Truth Social that the home countries of those students are “not at all friendly to the United States” and “pay NOTHING toward their student’s education.” The president’s post also said his administration wants “to know who those foreign students are.”
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 purpose of the report was to identify the issues we have with regard to the Jewish and Israeli students. Some of the recommendations we had already made are still being worked on. I think we have a problem with this, or maybe we had a real problem. We have done a lot to address it and we will continue to work at it.
The federal government states that we need to address antisemitism in particular, but it has raised other issues, and it also claims we don’t have viewpoint diversity. We have been very clear that we think we do have issues, and I would particularly emphasize the speech issues. We think it’s a real problem, if – particularly a research university’s – students don’t feel free to speak their minds, when faculty feel that they have to think twice before they talk about the subjects that they’re teaching. That is a real problem we need to address. It’s concerning when people have views that they think are unpopular. Conservatives are not welcome on campuses because the administration and others say they are too few. In so far as that’s true, that’s a problem we really need to address.
They aren’t true, to the best of my knowledge. I need to add, by the way, that this is clearly the subject of litigation, as you pointed out earlier. We have taken the necessary precautions to comply with the law.
Harvard’s president says it’s’stand firm’: Why international students should not go to Harvard, but research universities should’stay firm’
Inskeep: Is that a small example of what you’re trying to do in a large way? You want to allow all ideas, but at the same time you would like people to be civil with each other.
Is this what you mean? When you say that without international students Harvard wouldn’t be Harvard, which is a quarter of your student body?
Inskeep asked what he should say to someone who is in the middle of the country who is listening and thinking “I don’t have a stake in this.” I wasn’t able to attend Harvard. I do not want my child to go to Harvard. I really don’t like Harvard that much. This seems to be about a different kind of people. Harvard is getting what they deserve. Or in any case, it doesn’t matter much to me.” What would you say to someone with 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. But actually, if you look at the activities of the university, so much of this is 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.
How much research does the federal government really spend on research? An update from Garber and the Up First newsletter — an introduction with E.G. Garber, J.C. Garbe, G. S. Kehaviour,
The budgeting process allows the federal government to reallocate funds. What problem is he trying to solve by doing that? Most of the federal support that we get is used to pay for work that we do for the government in the form of grants and contracts. It means that work won’t be performed when you move to other uses. Is this the most effective use of federal funding? Do you really want to cut back on research dollars? 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? A lot of research shows that the returns to the American people have been enormous.
Garber: They said that. and I have to believe it, and I’ve repeated it myself. And that is how it’s understood by the other leaders of other universities that I have spoken to. It is a warning. They see this as a message that if you don’t comply with what we’re demanding, these will be the consequences.
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The Story of Two Baby Boys in a Camp: Harvard’s President speaks Out against Trump. And, an Analysis of DEI Job Losses
Corporate America is not in the same league as DEI. Five years ago, companies raced to get staff up after George Floyd’s murder because of the racial unrest that followed. There is an extensive amount of job losses in this field.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a new group backed by the U.S. and Israel, is starting to bring limited quantities of food to Gaza, where hunger is widespread and extreme. However, the group is facing suspicion and growing criticism from the UN and other aid groups. Jake Wood, the executive director, resigned on Sunday, saying he could not abandon principles of humanity, impartiality and independence.
Years after their son left the U.S. to join ISIS, a Minnesota couple learned they had two young grandsons trapped in a Syrian desert camp. They’re among an estimated 22 U.S. citizens still in the sprawling, primitive camps, including about 17 American children, according to the State Department. The two Minnesota boys were there until May 2024, when they were flown in a military cargo plane to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to start a new life in the American Midwest. The full story can be found here by NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer.
Source: Harvard’s president speaks out against Trump. And, an analysis of DEI job losses
Brian Mann: hiking through the forested mountains of volcanic rock and groves of cacti – An experience from Santiago, Chile
The capital of Santiago,Chile is a great place to hike in autumn because the hills rise above the city. The views of the pine forests, the Andes Mountains and the wildflowers at the center are breathtaking. Brian Mann trekked through the forested mountains of volcanic rock and groves of cacti. Check out photos from his journey and listen as he shares his experience from the trail here.