Former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers blasted moves by the Trump administration to scrutinize or freeze federal funding to top universities as “authoritarian,” and urged academic leaders to resist.
“This is an authoritarian attempt to chill and punish potential adversaries,” Summers said on Bloomberg Television’s Wall Street Week with David Westin when asked about the administration’s review of almost $9 billion of federal funding at Harvard.
Summers, who is currently a professor at Harvard and a paid contributor to Bloomberg TV, put the steps towards American universities in the same league as the pressure the administration has put on a number of law firms and federal judges.
The Harvard review, announced Monday by agencies including the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, followed a cancellation of grants last month to Columbia University. Princeton University said also said that US government agencies have frozen several dozen research grants.
The Trump administration has linked the actions to efforts aimed at eliminating antisemitism on US college campuses.
“There’s a lot that should be fixed at Harvard,” said Summers, who is also a former US Treasury secretary. “In some ways, it is shameful that there hasn’t been more done to address antisemitism.” There were also “real excesses” with regard to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, he said.
But “this is not a genuine concern about antisemitism, and this is not a genuine concern about universities,” he said. “This is an attempt at being authoritarian towards your adversaries.”
Capitulation Danger
“What we know from history is that there’s a lot of contagion — when people capitulate, people decide it’s hopeless and more people capitulate. When people have rectitude and stand up against it, it gives others strength.”
Harvard has a particular role, he said.
“If Harvard University — with a $52 billion endowment, with its enormous prestige, with an alumni network in every aspect of American leadership second-to-none — if it cannot resist this authoritarian tendency, who can? So there is an enormous amount that is at stake here.”
Harvard President Alan Garber earlier this week said in a statement that if the funding is stopped it will “halt life-saving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation.” He also acknowledged the need to combat antisemitism on campus, said Harvard is committed to working with the administration.
The Trump administration said in its statement, “We are pleased that Harvard is willing to engage with us on these goals.” The federal agencies also said, “This review is part of the ongoing efforts of the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.”