The House committee report on Harvard and antisemitism is clearly a political document, and I am sure is not fully balanced. Nonetheless, the evidence directly from members of Harvard’s anti-semitism advisory group is very troubling. It confirms the suspicions of many of that the university maintains a double standard between anti-semitism and other forms of prejudice. A dramatic decline in financial support is the least of the prices the university is paying for its failings. Our university has been highlighted on Saturday Night Live, provided the most watched film clip in Congressional history, witnessed declines in applications, been subject to multiple civil rights law suits and even faced threats that managers would be unwilling to manage its money. The Corporation as fiduciary has ultimate responsibility for maintaining order, setting broad values and choosing leaders at Harvard. The report makes clear the extent of their failure. It was public revulsion at what happened at Berkeley that launched Ronald Reagan’s political career. Events in Florida, Texas and other states where books are banned, curriculums are mandated, faculty are fired, and academic freedom is trampled should remind all of us that legislatures cannot seek to control private universities without doing irreparable harm. External bullying has no place in university policy setting. The only positive way forward is for the Corporation to regain the credibility it has lost both inside and outside the University. I suspect this will require substantial change in both the membership and the procedures. Neither internal nor external constituencies should or I expect will find it legitimate for the people with fiduciary responsibility for the events of the last year to choose the next President of Harvard. https://t.co/5DduwtyUHc via @WSJ
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