During an interview aired on Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said that Harvard “has to be free from the progressive orthodoxies of the left. And, in recent years, it has been captured by those.” But the Trump administration is attempting to make the school right-wing and shouldn’t go after funding for scientific research and that Harvard has made some changes.
Auchincloss said that Harvard “has to be free from politics. It has to be free from the progressive orthodoxies of the left. And, in recent years, it has been captured by those. And it also has to be freed from the authoritarian impulses of the right. And Harvard’s response to the administration was a step on the road back for Harvard towards true freedom and truth-seeking.”
Host John Berman then asked, “[I]n 2024…you said that federal funding, taking away federal funding needs to be on the table. Now, you just said that Harvard has made some of those reforms. But what more reforms does Harvard need to make in your mind?”
Auchincloss responded, “Harvard just issued or is about to issue an exhaustive antisemitism report that is, in many respects, scathing in its critiques of the university, and they are making changes into how they think about pedagogy, how they think about curriculum development, how they think about imparting critical thinking skills to their student body, how they think about upholding their code of conduct and their Title 6 obligations. All of these need to be addressed. And I stand by my comments from a year ago, which is to say that when Harvard is captured by the hard left, it needs to be free of that, when Harvard is being bullied by the extreme right, it needs to be free from that. Harvard and all universities need to pursue truth without fear or favor.”
Earlier, he said that going after funding for scientific research isn’t going to help anyone.
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