Harvard President Alan Garber admitted that the school needs to “address” the lack of conservatives on campus in an interview with NPR Tuesday.
Garber told interviewer Steve Inskeep that Harvard has recognized its challenges with speech-related issues.
It’s a serious concern when students and faculty at a research university feel hesitant to express their views or think twice before discussing their subjects. “That’s a real problem that we need to address,” he said.
“And the administration and others have said conservatives are too few on campus and their views are not welcome. In so far as that’s true, that’s a problem we really need to address,” Garber said.
He also said the school “want[s] people to be able to discuss difficult topics with one another, especially when they disagree.”
“We shouldn’t be in an echo chamber,” he said, adding that this is also why it is important to have international students on campus.
Inskeep asked Garber what he thinks motivated President Donald Trump’s administration to cut off various grants and, most recently, revoke a certification that allows Harvard to enroll international students.
“In my view, the federal government is saying that we need to address antisemitism in particular, but it has raised other issues, and it includes claims that we lack viewpoint diversity,” Garber said.
However, Garber also criticized the Trump administration for its actions against the university, saying:
Why cut off research funding? Sure, it hurts Harvard, but it hurts the country because after all, the research funding is not a gift. The research funding is given to universities and other research institutions to carry out work – research work – that the federal government designates as high-priority work. It is work that they want done. They are paying to have that work conducted. Shutting off that work does not help the country, even as it punishes Harvard, and it is hard to see the link between that and, say, antisemitism.
Asked what he would say to other universities, Garber advised that they remain firm in what they stand for.
“And what we stand for – I believe I speak for other universities – is education, pursuit of the truth, helping to educate people for better futures,” he said.
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Alan Garber interview with Steve Inskeep; NPR
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