Trump? Letter To Harvard Sent “In Error”? Heh, No.

So CNN picked up this article from The New York Times. The headline is “New York Times: Trump administration sent letter of demands to Harvard University in error.” Sure, they did. But the letter should not have been sent and was “unauthorized,” The New York Times reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter. Now, why on earth would Trumpy and his people backpedal on that? Trying to save face? That “ain’t” gonna happen. What’s done is done, and it’s been too long since the news first broke to say it was sent “in error”.

They damn well meant to send this. It’s a part of an ongoing war with schools about demands to “reform its curriculum and admissions programs, discontinuing DEI practices, and additional policy demands, such as “no masks during protests.” If you don’t cave, you lose Federal money. I think all the alumni of all the schools are determined to show that it doesn’t matter. As I’ve mentioned before, donations are pouring into Harvard. And the school will find other ways to support the areas without those Federal grants.

Here, have some “spin” from the CNN article. “The April 11 letter from the federal task force outlined policy demands as the basis for an agreement in principle that will maintain Harvard’s financial relationship with the federal government.” And, “The letter was signed by Josh Gruenbaum, a top official at the General Services Administration; Thomas Wheeler, the acting general counsel for the Department of Education; and Sean Keveney, acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services.” (Now, what in the hell was HHS doing in all this?) But it gets better! “After Harvard received the letter and rejected its demands, Gruenbaum called a Harvard lawyer initially saying that the letter wasn’t authorized to be sent”, according to two people with knowledge of the calls,” the New York Times reports. Gruenbaum then changed his story, the Times reported, saying that “the letter was always going to be sent, but not on Friday as parties from both sides were still in ‘constructive’ talks.” More came out about this. There were differing accounts inside the Trump administration on how the letter had been mishandled, with some at the White House believing it had been sent prematurely and others thinking it wasn’t meant to be sent at all, the Times reported. HA.

Now, really, what’s the truth buried in all this? And why would they say the letter was *not* to be sent? It’s just following the same story we’ve seen reported by multiple schools. You change, or you lose your money. That’s pretty direct, and there is no reason not to attack Harvard with it. This must be driving the administration bonkers, because Harvard said, “Hell NO”, although not in those words, mind you. The reply was even posted on the internet for everyone to see. It’s really hard to backpedal on that one.

Something else I find interesting is that a list of schools shows multiple places that have had their Federal money frozen, yet nothing has come out from any of them regarding “The Letter”. So, was the freeze put in place early to reduce resistance? Are they just holding back on sending it to other schools, thinking they’ll buckle under just with that action? I was unable to find, at this time, anything else about any other schools, like Cornell, for example, that have received this thing.

Let me close with another quote from Harvard that I just love: “Meanwhile, Harvard told CNN it didn’t question the letter’s authenticity and noted that the Trump administration has already frozen billions in federal funding to the prestigious university, among other actions. “Even assuming the Administration now wishes to take back its litany of breathtakingly intrusive demands, it appears to have doubled down on those demands through its deeds in recent days. Actions speak louder than words,” a statement from a Harvard spokesperson reads in part.”

Aw, yea. This reminds me of a Tom Petty song, and I can’t remember anything about it except the line “I won’t back down”. Sounds about right, doncha think? I hope the fact that Harvard stands up and refuses to accede to their demands will inspire other schools across the country. All they need to do is look at what’s done with that Federal money and see if they can work around it – I hope. I know it won’t be easy, but I can hope they can do it. Thanks for standing for what’s right, Harvard. Keep it up!

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