Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
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Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#2Related ongoing thread: Federal Government's letter to Harvard demanding changes [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43684386
Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#3Harvard has a 50 billion endowment, what do they need federal funds for. If they value their intellectual independence so much, then cut the cord.
Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#4Harvard has a 50 billion endowment, what do they need federal funds for. If they value their intellectual independence so much, then cut the cord.
Much of that federal funding is for research, the same as any other R1 university. We all benefit from research findings. Endowments are used for other purposes.
There are a few colleges that take no federal funding in order to maintain total independence (mostly for religious reasons). But their research output is virtually zero.
Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#5It’ll be nice if an institution finally decides to oppose some of the recent government overreach.
It’s really shocking to see an institution in our country take action that is not in its immediate financial best interest (assuming this letter translates to an action)
Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#6I would have preferred a much more concise refusal.
Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#7Good. More organizations that have the resources should be putting their foot down.
Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#8Harvard has a 50 billion endowment, what do they need federal funds for. If they value their intellectual independence so much, then cut the cord.
The federal funds are for doing research that the government wants to fund, not keeping the university’s lights on. This is about terminating a productive partnership, not ending a subsidy handout to schools.
Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#9The government subsidizes a private institution that cuts class sizes. Clearly education isn't their priority, so the subsidy can go.
Re: Harvard's response to federal government letter demanding changes
#10Harvard has a 50 billion endowment, what do they need federal funds for. If they value their intellectual independence so much, then cut the cord.
Next step: taxing that endowment (which is a good idea irrespective of the other demands: universities are government-subsidized tax-free hedge funds)