Comment on “Study funding for research at the university of Hong Kong” by Zhigang Suo, a Materials Engineer at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is offering international students at Harvard dedicated scholarships, accommodation assistance and guidance on transferring academic credit, according to a letter addressed to them, which was posted on X yesterday by Zhigang Suo, a materials engineer at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Inskeep: One other thing in reading the DHS statement about Harvard, there is a line that struck me: “Let this serve as a warning.” They are discussing their actions against Harvard. “Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.” I wonder if you agree with the idea that this episode is a warning to all universities across the country.
“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, adding that these dollars are awarded to efforts deemed “high-priority work” by the federal government.
With elite U.S. universities in President Trump’s crosshairs, the leader of Harvard University says institutions need to double down on their “commitment to the good of the nation” and be firm in what they stand for.
As proof, he pointed to recent honors awards to Harvard faculty for work on obesity and diabetes drugs, which used to correct disease-causing genetic defects.
The Harvard ‘Theoretical’ Student’s Lawsuit: Is the Trump Administration “Finding the Right Way” to Fund a Foreign Students Education?
The president commented on his social media account that the home countries of the international students are not friendly to the US and that they pay “nothing toward their student’s education”. The president’s post also said his administration wants “to know who those foreign students are.”
Garber: Well, clearly, there has been tremendous division on campus over that period of time. Faculty and students disagree on what the university should do. The main focus of the report was to identify the problems we face with regard to our Jewish and Israeli students. Some of those recommendations we had already adopted, some we are currently working through. I believe that we have a real problem if you will, or we had a real problem. We have done a lot of work to address it.
Alan Garber: In my view, the federal government is saying that we need to address antisemitism in particular, but it has raised other issues, and it includes claims that we lack viewpoint diversity. We have been very clear that we don’t have a shortage of issues and I would emphasize the speech issues. We think it’s a real problem, if – particularly a research university’s – students don’t feel free to speak their minds, when faculty feel that they have to think twice before they talk about the subjects that they’re teaching. That is a real problem that we need to address. It’s concerning when people have opinions that are unpopular. The administration and others have stated that conservatives are not welcome on campus. It’s true that we need to address that problem.
They are not true to the best of my knowledge. As you pointed out earlier, this is the subject of litigation. So we have endeavored to comply fully in line with the law.
Source: As Trump targets elite schools, Harvard’s president says they should ‘stand firm’
The Harvard Lawsuit Funding International Students and “I Do Not Wanna Go to Harvard”: A Counterexample to the Trump-CPT Action
Is that one example of what you are trying to do in a large way? You want people to be able to engage in civil conversation even though you want to allow all sorts of ideas.
Inskeep: Is this what you mean when, in the lawsuit, you say that without international students, which is a quarter of your student body, Harvard would not be Harvard?
If someone in the middle of the country is listening to us, what would you say, “I don’t have a stake in this?” I did not go to Harvard. I’m not sending my kid to Harvard. I don’t like Harvard very much. There is a different kind of people in this picture. And Harvard deserves what they’re getting. Or in any case, it doesn’t matter much to me.” Is it possible to say something to someone with that attitude?
If they learned a little bit more about Harvard, then that would be a good way for them to learn more about the research universities. At the center of our university is teaching and learning. When you look at the activities of the university, it’s pretty much all about research. There’s so many discoveries that have come from Harvard and other research universities, advances in cancer and treatments of cancer of all kinds.
Source: As Trump targets elite schools, Harvard’s president says they should ‘stand firm’
What is the value of the federal government’s funding? Is it important to the government to do the right thing? The man named Garber: “I don’t want to do that”
Garber: I would say that the federal government has the authority through the budgeting process to reallocate funds. What problem is he trying to solve by doing that? Almost all of the federal support that we are given goes to research universities in the form of grants and contracts which are used to pay for work performed at the government’s direction. That means work won’t be performed, when it’s reallocated to trade schools. Is this the most effective use of federal funding? Do you really want to cut back on research dollars? I’m less concerned about whether it goes to a trade school or if it goes to some other project, like working on highways. The real question is, how much value does the federal government get from its expenditures on research? There is a lot of actual research demonstrating the returns to the American people have been enormous.
The man is named Garber. They said that. I’ve repeat it myself, because I have to believe it. And that is how it’s understood by the other leaders of other universities that I have spoken to. It’s a warning. They see this as a message that if you don’t comply with what we’re demanding, these will be the consequences.