Trump demands MAGA DEI at Harvard

The letter to Harvard that accompanied the Trump Administration funding freeze shows once again that whatever the right accuses others of is what they’re doing. In this case, the Administration demands affirmative action hires of MAGA political commissars under the guise of fighting antisemitism and promoting diversity. 

“Among other things, it requires the university to hire a cadre of White House-approved commissars to ensure that MAGA conservatives are equally represented, not only at the university level but at each individual department, teaching and research “unit” — both in hiring and admissions. The White House demands that every department and unit be “audited” by the outside commissar group for “viewpoint diversity.” Each department or unit found not to have sufficient MAGA representation (defined as “viewpoint diversity”) “must be reformed by hiring a critical mass of new faculty” to “provide viewpoint diversity.” Same language but with respect to admissions. Any department or unit which lacks MAGA representation must admit a bunch of new, MAGA, “viewpoint diverse” students. Again, it’s just one example.”

This is pure extortion. Harvard’s attorneys should have an easy job fighting this in the courts of law. What they need to do is fight this in the court of public opinion. And they’re doing that too:

“I’ll also note that, as of today, the university’s webpage has been remade into essentially an advertisement for the societal/human impact of university research. The splash headline is “Research Powers Progress” followed by the tagline line: “Research at Harvard — from medicine to technology to education and business — touches countless lives, moving us closer to disease cures, next-generation technology, and a more secure future for millions of people.”

 

Time for other universities to join hands with Harvard. United, they’ll prevail.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/harvard-letter