Harvard petition demands scrutiny of ex-Trump officials; new “Conservative Coalition” formed

In November 2020, a group of anonymous Harvard University students circulated an open letter demanding university officials introduce guidelines for vetting members of the Trump administration before allowing them to visit campus as professors, fellows, or guest speakers. The petition specifically called on the university to disqualify those who had failed to uphold traditional democratic principles. Prominent Republicans and allies of former President Donald Trump condemned the petition as a threat to Free Speech and an attempt to silence conservative voices. 

Key Players

The petition originated, according to the Washington Post, in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, a private institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The university has “at times been a focal point in the culture war over who should be allowed on college campuses and in what positions,” according to the Post. Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government often hires former politicians and political staffers to teach as professors or temporary fellows, ABC News reported; historically, the university has welcomed figures from both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Further Details

On Nov. 17, 2020, in an open letter to the university, a group of Harvard students condemned Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 presidential election and the former president’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. 

The letter allegedly began circulating weeks after a University of Massachusetts professor, Paul Musgrave, tweeted that faculty at prestigious universities should oppose the hiring of Trump administration officials, ABC News reported.

The signatories claimed that allowing Trump allies to address audiences at Harvard would legitimize the subverting of democratic norms and pose an ongoing threat to American democracy, according to Fox Business. 

The letter demanded the university institute “a system of accountability” for members of the Trump administration before inviting them to Harvard’s campus. It also called on the university to share these guidelines with the student body. Anyone who failed to uphold democratic principles should be disqualified, the petition said.

Outcome

Prominent Republicans push back on the letter 

Several high-profile Republicans condemned the letter, claiming it targeted conservatives, promoted censorship, and violated Free Speech. 

Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law professor and member of the Trump legal team during his impeachment hearings, called the letter “the worst kind of thought control,” according to the Washington Post. He also promised to represent pro bono any Trump administration official denied access to Harvard’s campus. 

Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, a Harvard alumna, called for the university to reject the letter. “I will happily walk back on campus and challenge this,” she told Fox Business. “Censorship should not be tolerated. Our academic communities should be bastions of free speech.” 

Meanwhile, Marisa Borreggine, vice president of the Harvard Graduate Students Union, a United Auto Workers-affiliated group that represents campus graduate workers, told ABC it would be disappointing if Harvard hired former officials from a “blatantly anti-democratic, anti-science, and anti-labor administration.”

Congresswoman removed from program advisory body for peddling election fraud conspiracy

Six days after a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol in a violent bid to halt the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory, the Harvard Institute of Politics (IOP) removed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) from the program’s Senior Advisory Committee. The New York congresswoman and Trump acolyte was one of 147 House Republicans who refused to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, clinging to the unfounded narrative that the vote was beset by fraudulent activity. .

The Harvard Kennedy School, which houses the IOP, initially asked Stefanik to step aside, according to Politico; she refused. Stefanik brandished her removal with pride, calling it a “rite of passage and badge of honor.” 

“The decision by Harvard’s administration to cower and cave to the woke Left will continue to erode diversity of thought,” Stefanik wrote in a public statement. “The Ivory Tower’s march toward a monoculture of like-minded, intolerant liberal views demonstrates the sneering disdain for everyday Americans and will instill a culture of fear for students.” In March 2021, Stefanik earned a leadership post in the House Republican caucus after party members ousted Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney for challenging Trump’s voting fraud claims

The IOP, which hosts speaking events and career development programs for undergraduates, implemented a set of guidelines to better vet prospective fellows in October 2018 after facing criticism for granting fellowships to former Trump officials Sean Spicer and Corey Lewandowski the previous year. 

Institute of Politics forms Conservative Coalition

On March 4, 2021, the Harvard Institute of Politics (IOP), which is housed in the Kennedy School and hosts speakers and career development programs for undergraduates,  announced it had created a new space on campus for conservative students to develop their identities: a “Conservative Coalition” that would meet every two weeks, the Harvard Crimson reported. 

“Limited” representation of conservative viewpoints among staff and programming inspired the coalition’s formation, Grace Bannister, a student member of the new group, told the Crimson. Bannister added that staff and student leadership “were with us every step of the way.”

The IOP “has a longstanding commitment and history to encourage and enable diverse opinions to be heard,” IOP Director Mark Gearan told the Crimson. “We seek to ensure that our community engages in open discussion of a broad range of perspectives and ideas across the ideological spectrum.”