Mint Quick Edit | Harvard’s stance is good for America
Summary
- The university is holding out against White House attempts to curb academic freedom. The issue spotlights both what’s impressive and perplexing about the US.
The White House’s clash with Harvard University, which the former sought to soften over the weekend, spotlights an enviable aspect of the US as much as a political puzzle. The country’s institutional integrity, with academic freedom held as a key value, has long been the world’s envy. If that wobbles, its story of liberty would ring hollow.
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The enigma is the backing of Israel’s brutal Gaza War by both its big political parties. The events that led Claudine Gay to resign as Harvard president in 2024 revealed not just varied views on who’s vulnerable to genocide, but also how easily anti-war protests could be branded “antisemitic".
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She had merely stated the campus rulebook, which privileges free speech. Her successor Alan Garber did well to resist renewed efforts to curb Harvard’s autonomy and gag protestors. But bipartisan support for Israel can’t fully be explained by the influence of a “Jewish lobby" over US politics.
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America’s energy stakes in West Asia were high once, but fell after its surge in shale-oil output. Yet, old habits die hard and Israel is America’s regional ally. Even so, the US would be better served if it took its cues on complex world affairs from academia instead of lobbies or biases.
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