Can Any of Us Understand Harvard

Day after day are stories about Trump thinking he can score political points by attacking Harvard. He may very well be scoring some points. An additional Trump motive come from massive pleasure he gets when making some he regards as important bend to his will. Whether by canceling some Federal contracts or sending home some foreign students can he make Harvard bend to his will or change it much in any way?   I have my doubts. 

Decades ago, there was a perhaps fictious exchange of views between a monied alum of some small college and a new faculty member in history. The monied alum welcomed the new young historian and said, "Welcome, professor. I hope you will be teaching only Christian history and not the other stuff." The professor replied, "Certainly I will teach only Christian history as soon as you require our math faculty to teach only Christian mathematics." The point is the universities have always been mostly run from the inside and outside forces face big obstacles trying to move or change the knowledge business.

One part of the opposition to Harvard and higher education in general is the notion that students are converted to liberal ideas by professors who hold these ideas. What is taught in classrooms is dictated by what students need to know when the take the next course. Certainly, there are liberal books but there are also conservative ones. There are conservative professors. Most universities are too large and have too many different constituencies to go very far from the political or social direction they now hold. 

As to money, Trump thinks Harvard is owned by stockholders who want profits and higher stock values. Cutting revenue sources will disrupt Harvard and many other universities. Small universities are closing due to the smaller demographic of young people and high college debt. Larger places have ways to stay in business and outlast Trump. Harvard is one of these. In a few years Trump will be gone and forgotten but Harvard will still be there.