Trump criticized Harvard University again on April 16th: "Everyone knows that Harvard has lost its way. They hired two of the worst and most incompetent mayors in our country's history from New York (Bill de Blasio) and Chicago (Lori Lightfoot) with absurdly high salaries to teach urban management and government. These two radical left fools left two cities that will take years to recover from their incompetence and evil. Now, Harvard almost only hires those woke, radical left fools who can only teach failure and call themselves 'future leaders.' Look at a recent example, the plagiarizing president of Harvard who embarrassed the university before Congress. When things got so bad that even they couldn't bear it, they didn't fire this extremely incompetent woman on the spot but transferred her to another teaching position. Afterward, more problems were discovered about her, but she still stayed at Harvard. Many such leftist fools are still teaching at Harvard. Therefore, Harvard is no longer considered a decent educational institution and should not be listed among the world's top universities or colleges. Harvard has become a joke, spreading hatred and stupidity, and should immediately lose federal funding support. Thank you for your attention to this issue!"
Trump publicly exposed the hypocrisy and shamelessness of Harvard and other prestigious universities. He said that Harvard University is no longer a good university and should not be included in the list of world-class universities because it has become a joke, teaching hatred and stupidity, and thus should not receive federal subsidies. Trump gave an example: Harvard University hired two people with very high salaries, one being former New York mayor Bill de Blasio, a white leftist, and the other being former Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, a black female mayor. These two people messed up New York and Chicago, but they were hired as professors by Harvard to teach students how to manage cities. Trump said, "These two radical left fools left behind two cities that will need many years to recover from their incompetence and evil. Harvard University has been hiring almost all these woke radical left fools and idiots who only灌输 failure views to students and turn so-called 'future leaders' into people who can only fail."
Therefore, Trump believes that Harvard University has become "a joke." The U.S. federal government will no longer fund "jokes." If Harvard continues to lean left and becomes a tool for poisoning political ideology, then President Trump will cancel its tax-exempt status. Without the tax benefit, where else can Harvard get donations? Almost all donors do it for the tax benefits.
Trump's criticism of Harvard University was intense in wording, reflecting the complex contradictions and conflicts between American politics and education fields.
From Trump's point of view, he pointed out that Harvard hired former mayors with poor performance as teachers, and most of the faculty members inside are what he called "woke, radical left fools," which reflects his dissatisfaction with the composition of Harvard's teaching staff and its political inclination. In his eyes, these people cannot only impart real knowledge but also turned Harvard into a place that spreads "hatred and stupidity," making Harvard no longer a qualified educational institution and even unworthy of being considered a top university, and losing its federal funding support. Trump's remarks are partly based on his own conservative political stance to criticize the left-leaning political tendency in universities; on the other hand, it also reflects his attempt to exert political influence on educational institutions, making their development conform to the direction he expects.
However, Trump's views are controversial. As a world-renowned academic institution with a long history and profound academic foundation, Harvard University's achievements in academic research and talent cultivation cannot be ignored. Harvard refused the reform requirements proposed by the Trump administration, insisting on its independence and academic freedom, which received support from figures including Obama. Obama praised Harvard for resisting White House influence and set an example for other universities, emphasizing that academic freedom should not be illegally interfered with. Moreover, Princeton University and other institutions also expressed support for Harvard, believing that the government should not excessively interfere with universities' teaching content, admission and personnel policies, and research content.
The contradiction between Trump and Harvard University essentially reflects the power game between American political forces and academic institutions. Trump's administration's threat to freeze federal funds and other means to coerce universities into "reforms" is imposing political agenda on the academic field, which may damage the long-standing autonomy tradition and academic freedom atmosphere of American higher education. Harvard's resistance represents the defense of its independence and academic dignity. This event concerns not only the future development of Harvard University but may also have far-reaching impacts on the entire American higher education landscape, and the subsequent developments are worth continuous attention.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829599439924547/
Disclaimer: The article only represents the author's personal opinions.