Keller: Putting the Trump administration's claims against Harvard to the truth test
The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller's, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.
In the latest salvo of its ongoing war against the nation's oldest university, the Trump administration accused Harvard of "race discrimination" and told federal agencies to cancel $100 million worth of contracts with Harvard.
We reviewed the specific claims the administration is making in a letter from the General Services Administration (GSA) and put them to the WBZ Truth Test.
Remedial math class
"These students can't add two and two and they go to Harvard, they want remedial math and they're going to teach remedial math at Harvard," said the president the other day. "Now wait a minute, so why would they get in?"
The GSA letter calls it the "direct result of employing discriminatory factors instead of merit in admission decisions," part of its overall claim that Harvard has not reformed its admissions process in compliance with a 2023 Supreme Court ruling.
But the university is enrolling fewer Black students since the court ruled. And Harvard claims that remedial math class was a response to pandemic-era learning loss among incoming freshmen. No evidence has been offered that it's an affirmative action by-product in any way.
Harvard Law Review
The feds also claim "discriminatory practices have been exposed" at the Harvard Law Review. And in fact, the Free Beacon website did obtain materials documenting a devotion to elevation of non-White voices in the student-run publication.
A 2018 lawsuit against the Review, Harvard Law School and Harvard College was thrown out by a federal judge who found the plaintiffs "failed to supply even the slightest description of any member" actually harmed by similar behavior. And at Harvard and other schools, law reviews operate independently from the universities themselves.
Two students honored
One of the students charged with assault and battery on an Israeli student after a 2023 confrontation at Harvard Business School has been awarded a Law School fellowship. Another was named a class marshal at the Divinity School.
The GSA calls that "a clear signal of tolerance for, if not outright endorsement of, student on student violence." But a Boston Municipal Court judge ruled they should not face trial, and do not have to admit wrongdoing.
The singling out of those two students for honors - even though the judge ordered them to undergo anger management classes and perform community service - was bound to stir up controversy and seems like questionable judgement. So does using the case to broadly indict Harvard for decisions made independently by two of its many branches.
The rest of the letter is a rehash of old grievances and, in the case of the "remedial math" issue, a very sketchy set of assumptions. Makes you wonder if all this is less about facts and reform than political grandstanding.
