The Patriot Post® · Trump to Harvard: FAFO

When an American president — or a business executive, or any leader in life — is met with an obstacle, he can pretty much do one of three things: ignore it, accommodate it, or attack it.

Regarding Donald Trump’s commitment to stamping out both anti-Semitism and DEI-driven racial discrimination at Harvard and other elite “educational” enclaves, the first two options appear to be nonstarters. So, Trump being Trump, he’s going all in on the third option.

The Associated Press sets the stage this way: “On one side is Harvard, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, with a brand so powerful that its name is synonymous with prestige. On the other side is the Trump administration, determined to go further than any other White House to reshape American higher education.”

We’re not so sure Harvard’s name is still “synonymous with prestige” — not after having been slapped by the Supreme Court two years ago for its racially discriminatory admissions policies, and not after having been taken to the woodshed by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik for its willingness to accommodate Jew hatred. But whatever.

Earlier this week, Harvard used its official X account to announce that it wouldn’t accede to the Trump administration’s demands to stamp out the DEI and the anti-Semitism in its midst: “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”

Not the Bee called ‘em out: “The federal government forcing you to obey the constitution is not the same as the federal government taking you over. But when you’re as intellectually dull as the people that work at Harvard, that’s what you think.”

Meanwhile, intrepid author and Claremont Senior Fellow Jeremy Carl focused on another weakness in Harvard’s argument: “LOL. Your privilege is showing. You want the billions of dollars of federal funding, but you don’t want to be held accountable to the Federal government. It doesn’t work like that.”

In short, Harvard is fooling around, and it’s itching to find out. Apparently, the school thinks it has “constitutional rights” to discriminate based on race and to allow Jewish students to be terrorized — all while raking in $9 billion from U.S. taxpayers. The administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism thinks otherwise:

Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges — that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.

The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support.

The Joint Task Force to combat anti-Semitism is announcing a freeze on $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60M in multi-year contract value to Harvard University.

In response to King Crimson’s intransigence, Donald Trump upped the ante further: “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting 'Sickness?’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”

Whereas a few tens of millions here or there are but fleas on Harvard’s thick hide, tax exemption is about real money — the kind of money that can get the school’s attention. As The Washington Post rightly reports, “Tax-exempt status is available to charitable, religious and educational organizations, as well as social welfare groups. But the organizations must adhere to tax laws that prohibit them from engaging in certain political activity.”

But — and there’s always a “but” with The Washington Post — “There is no proof that Harvard has violated any of those guardrails, experts say.”

What would we do without experts? This, of course, is what we’ve come to expect from the Left’s lickspittles in the media. Whenever Donald Trump or his fellow Republicans level a damaging charge — whether about Hunter Biden’s influence peddling or Joe Biden’s decrepitude or those 81 million votes he somehow snared — they always do so “without evidence.”

If any school is equipped to fool around with federal funding, though, it’s Harvard. The school’s endowment is an astounding $53.2 billion, which is bigger than the annual budgets of 36 states. Notably, Massachusetts’s FY2024 budget was $56 billion.

But, as the New York Post reports, “If the tax-exempt status was altered, the endowment income’s tax rate could soar from 1.4% to the standard 21% corporate tax rate — not accounting for deductions — potentially translating to a $525 million annual reduction in funds.”

We can already hear them shrieking: Save us, fellow Trump-hating judicial despots! Save us from the executive branch’s efforts to enforce the Constitution on us!

This is a serious fight — a fight in which the Queensberry Rules are already out the window.