Trump Wants to be President of Harvard, Not Combat Anti-Semitism

Let me begin by saying that anyone who had read these dispatches knows I do not like how Harvard University and its entities has addressed anti-Semitism on its campus even before October 7, 2023.

However, earlier this year, Harvard settled a lawsuit with Students Against Anti-Semitism, the terms of which included, among other things, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, an annual symposium on anti-Semitism and strengthening ties with Israeli academic institutions. 

Yet clearly the Trump Administration is not satisfied with the terms of the settlement as evidenced by their letter dated April 11th jointly signed by officials with the soon-to-be chloroformed Department of Education, Department of Health & Human Services and the General Services Administration, this has very little to do with the question of anti-Semitism and more to do with ending DEI, limiting the presence of international students on campus and, above all else, hiring academics who tout the Trump Administration line. In which case, Harvard can expect an influx of academics from the Claremont Institute and the Heritage Foundation.

Harvard University President Alan Garber politely told the Trump Administration to go fly a kite.

To which the Trump Administration through its Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism promptly froze $2.2 billion in grants as well as an additional $60 million government contracts with the Ivy League school.

From where I sit down the road from Harvard Yard, this is an attempt by the Trump Administration to create new foundations to control American academic institutions led by their cronies along the lines of what occurred in Hungary under Viktor Orban in 2021. 

But let's not forget this is Trump we are talking about who has all the subtlety of a ballpein hammer. Given the prestige the Harvard name has around the world, despite its problems, I believe that Trump will try to find a way to appoint himself President of Harvard University just as he did with the Kennedy Center for the Arts who named him their Chair.

Should this come to pass, efforts to combat anti-Semitism will fall by the wayside. Which would not be a surprise considering the Trump Administration is more than happy to tolerate Elon Musk's occasional Holocaust denial re-tweets. 

Again, Harvard University deserves a great deal of criticism for the manner in which it has addressed campus anti-Semitism. But it has taken steps in the right direction as a result of the lawsuit settlement with Students Against Anti-Semitism. However, the Trump Administration's Joint Taskforce to Combat Anti-Semitism treats anti-Semitism as a tertiary afterthought. 

The real aim is to bring Harvard under its thumb just as it is doing with prominent law firms around the country, the media and other independent institutions within our civil society.

If the Trump Administration is successful in taking over Harvard (and installing Trump as its President) it will likely have the effect of aggravating anti-Semitism instead of combatting it.