Harvard President Alan Garber has reaffirmed his condemnation of the Trump administration’s withholding of research grants and blocking of international students while urging his fellow college presidents to “stand firm” against the pressure coming from the federal government.
Speaking to NPR’s “Morning Edition” on Monday, Garber doubled down on Harvard’s legal actions and said the United States broadly and scientific research specifically will pay a huge price for the termination of research grants.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security blocked Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, which make up nearly 30% of the student body, in the latest salvo between the federal government and the esteemed institution. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order against the DHS over its pausing of Harvard’s access to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program following a lawsuit by the university. When asked by NPR if Harvard would summarize their lawsuit by saying “without international students, Harvard would not be Harvard,” Garber responded “Absolutely.”
Garber acknowledged that Harvard needs to do better at fostering a community that embraces diverse viewpoints over racial diversity saying, “the administration and others have said conservatives are too few on campus and their views are not welcome. In so far as that’s true, that’s a problem we really need to address.”
Yet Garber did not feel the Trump administration’s heavy-handed approach would lead to anything productive.
“What is perplexing is the measures that they have taken to address these that don’t even hit the same people that they believe are causing the problems. Why cut off research funding? Sure, it hurts Harvard, but it hurts the country because after all, the research funding is not a gift,” Garber said.
NPR’s Steve Inskeep challenged Garber to explain why the rest of the country should worry about what’s happening to Harvard when such a small fraction of the population will ever see or attend the university.
Garber suggested that middle America become more educated about its contributions. “I would ask them to learn a little bit more, not only about Harvard, but about universities like Harvard… There’s so many discoveries that have come from Harvard and other research universities, advances in cancer and treatments of cancer of all kinds,” adding, “A faculty member of ours just got the Breakthrough Prize for work that led to the discovery of GLP-1 drugs, which are now revolutionizing how we approach obesity, diabetes and many other conditions.”
Concluding with a discussion on the Trump administration’s “warning” to other university presidents, Garber said the nation’s college leaders need to stick together. “I would say that we need to be firm in our commitments to what we stand for. And what we stand for… So, number one, I think we all need to redouble our commitment to the good of the nation and the world. And I know my fellow leaders fully embrace that.”
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