Last Updated:
Harvard has stood out for defying US President Donald Trump’s attempts to force it to submit to wide-ranging government oversight, in contrast to several other universities that have folded under intense pressure from the White House
US President Donald Trump speaks during a ceremony to present the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the US Naval Academy football team, the Navy Midshipmen, on April 15. (Image: AFP)
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday Harvard University a “joke”, saying it can no longer be considered among the “World’s Great Universities or Colleges” in a continuation of a funding standoff with the top university that has become a focal point in his war against elite educational institutions.
Harvard has stood out for defying Trump’s attempts to force it to submit to wide-ranging government oversight, in contrast to several other universities that have folded under intense pressure from the White House. “Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges,” he said on his Truth Social platform. “Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”
On Tuesday (April 15), he threatened to strip the university of its tax-exempt status as a nonprofit educational institution, after earlier freezing $2.2 billion in federal funding. He has demanded that the university change the way it runs itself, including how it selects students and its hiring practices, and that it submit itself to “audits” of academic programmes and departments.
In his Truth Social post, the President said Harvard has “lost its way” and has been hiring “woke, Radical Left, idiots and birdbrains” capable of only teaching “failure”. “…look just to the recent past at their plagiarizing President, who so greatly embarrassed Harvard before the United States States Congress. When it got so bad that they just couldn’t take it anymore, they moved this grossly inept woman into another position, teaching, rather than firing her ON THE SPOT. Since then much else has been found out about her, but she remains in place. Many others, like these Leftist dopes, are teaching at Harvard…” he said.
Harvard President Alan Garber said the school will not “negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights”. Trump and his administration have justified their pressure campaign on universities as a reaction to what they say is uncontrolled anti-Semitism and support for the Palestinian armed group Hamas.
The anti-Semitism allegations are based on protests against Israel’s war in Gaza that swept across campuses last year. The White House has also strong-armed dozens of universities and colleges with threats to remove federal funding over their policies meant to encourage racial diversity among students and staff.
(With agency inputs)
- Location :
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
