The last six months have been an absolute disaster for Harvard. This decision looks pretty weak.
The College Fix reports:
Harvard won’t take official stance on controversial issues under new policyHarvard University will no longer take sides on controversial public issues under an institutional policy announced Tuesday.The change comes in response to criticism of the university’s handling of antisemitism, its initial response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, and its decision to fly a flag on campus in support of Ukraine in the conflict with Russia.Interim President Alan Garber introduced the policy in an email Tuesday based on recommendations from a Institutional Voice Working Group, The Crimson student newspaper reports.Garber said both he and the Harvard Corporation accepted the faculty group’s recommendation to restrict the university and its leaders from issuing “official statements about public matters that do not directly affect the university’s core function.”The university compromises its “integrity and credibility” when it “speaks officially on matters outside its institutional area of expertise,” a report by the working group states.“There will be close cases where reasonable people disagree about whether a given issue is or is not directly related to the core function of the university,” the report states. “The university’s policy in those situations should be to err on the side of avoiding official statements.”Several times, the report states Harvard is not a “neutral” institution, because it “values open inquiry, expertise, and diverse points of view” in the pursuit of truth.However, a policy that limits institutional statements on controversial issues “serves those values,” according to the working group. Taking a side undermines “inclusivity” and subjects administrators to intense pressure from competing outside parties, the report states.
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