Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes

harvard.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 1001 posts

Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes

#71

Post by janalsncm »

mschuster91 wrote: post #42
WalterBright wrote: post #35

[flagged]

> The Federal government has always attached conditions in exchange for Federal funding and Federal contracts. This is not dictating. It effectively is. Just look up the history of the drinking age - a classic example of the federal government using extortion tactics to override state rights.

Which was also a law passed by Congress. Congress passes laws.

Should we also say that the president can strike down unconstitutional state laws because the Supreme Court is in the federal government?

Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes

#72

Post by legitster »

ghusto wrote: post #51
areoform wrote: post #26

If you've read history, this rhymes with certain acts that have happened before under certain regimes. Under a non-authoritarian Government, this type of showboating can be dismissed, but when habeas corpus and the right to due process is suspended — such actions take on a very different cast indeed. It's good that Harvard is fighting this. The more people accede, the more they will accelerate down a path where there…

The point of no return is Trump getting a third term. The parallels are strong there. I was just thinking this morning that we very much needed the USA's help fighting Nazi Germany, but who will we turn to when we're fighting fascists coming from the East _and_ West? (Russia and the USA)

[flagged]

Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes

#73

Post by bilbo0s »

ghusto wrote: post #51
areoform wrote: post #26

If you've read history, this rhymes with certain acts that have happened before under certain regimes. Under a non-authoritarian Government, this type of showboating can be dismissed, but when habeas corpus and the right to due process is suspended — such actions take on a very different cast indeed. It's good that Harvard is fighting this. The more people accede, the more they will accelerate down a path where there…

The point of no return is Trump getting a third term. The parallels are strong there. I was just thinking this morning that we very much needed the USA's help fighting Nazi Germany, but who will we turn to when we're fighting fascists coming from the East _and_ West? (Russia and the USA)

The point of no return is Trump getting a third term

That's a little alarmist. It's not going to happen.

Things are close to going off the rails and people are understandably troubled with the direction in which the US government is headed. I am as well. But we all need to start turning down the temperature a bit.

Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes

#74

Post by allturtles »

WalterBright wrote: post #35

[flagged]

As the Harvard letter says, "I encourage you to read the letter to gain a fuller understanding of the unprecedented demands being made by the federal government..." This goes far beyond a demand to follow existing civil rights law. It's a demand for a full-on, government-monitored cultural revolution that will punish Trump's enemies and bring in his supporters. It's also hilarously self-contradictory. The government demands an END to all DEI programs, yet in the same breath, "Every department or field found to lack viewpoint diversity must be reformed by hiring a critical mass of new faculty within that department or field who will provide viewpoint diversity..."

Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes

#78

Post by inglor_cz »

bretpiatt wrote: post #32

With their endowment above $50 billion, combined with Federal plus Non-Federal sponsored revenue at 16% of operating budget, it makes sense to me they just forgo Federal funds and operate independently. If all 16% is canceled, then they'd need to draw an additional $1 billion per year from endowment at current budget levels. That would put them above 7% draw so potentially unsustainable for perpetuity, historically t…

They could also possibly fire some administrators. Not every vice-provost out there is strictly necessary.

Just a few years ago, Harvard Crimson carried an op-ed complaining about the bloat:

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/11/29/anderson-burea...

Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes

#79

Post by pcthrowaway »

ghusto wrote: post #51
areoform wrote: post #26

If you've read history, this rhymes with certain acts that have happened before under certain regimes. Under a non-authoritarian Government, this type of showboating can be dismissed, but when habeas corpus and the right to due process is suspended — such actions take on a very different cast indeed. It's good that Harvard is fighting this. The more people accede, the more they will accelerate down a path where there…

The point of no return is Trump getting a third term. The parallels are strong there. I was just thinking this morning that we very much needed the USA's help fighting Nazi Germany, but who will we turn to when we're fighting fascists coming from the East _and_ West? (Russia and the USA)

[flagged]

Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes

#80

Post by mtoner23 »

legitster wrote: post #72
ghusto wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of no return is Trump getting a third term. The parallels are strong there. I was just thinking this morning that we very much needed the USA's help fighting Nazi Germany, but who will we turn to when we're fighting fascists coming from the East _and_ West? (Russia and the USA)

[flagged]

there's no need to defend any good things the nazis did to germany
Post reply on HN