A related point about this — Kim is an advocate and presumably a participant in the academic boycott of Israel -- its universities and academicians. That means she believes that Israeli researchers and scholars are undeserving of the rights and privileges of academics anywhere else, regardless of their political views or policy positions (which, in Israel as in the U.S., are often at odds with government policies). In other words, Kim believes fully and completely in the politicization of higher education, not to mention discrimination against academicians based on national identity and residency.
Isn't this what Harvard is opposed to, at least when it comes to Trump's actions against it? If so, why are they honoring her?
It is absurd that Harvard should say it has rights to be independent of government controls, yet still honors someone who is calling for the punishment of independent Israeli universities and academics.
One positive sign is that there is now prominent signage in Harvard Yard about the rules and Harvard's intention to enforce them. The following is the text of the signs:
Harvard is committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all members of the Harvard community. Please take note that the following acts are prohibited on Harvard property, including Harvard Yard:
· Erecting or maintaining a tent or other temporary structure;
· Camping or sleeping outside, with or without a tent or other temporary structure;
· Blocking a pedestrian pathway or access to building entrances;
. Amplifying noise without appropriate prior approval;
· Disturbing or using university flagpoles;
· Projecting or affixing a message or image onto a harvard [sic] building;
· Vandalizing university property; and
· Digging holes, driving stakes into the ground, or otherwise disturbing plant life on university property.
An individual who assists others in engaging in a prohibited act will be treated as if they committed the prohibited act themselves. Items brought onto Harvard property in furtherance of such prohibited acts will be subject to confiscation. Harvard will not be responsible for storing or returning any such items. Any requests for approval should be directed to Harvard Yard Operations (yardops (at sign) fas.harvard.edu), which has been designated under the Campus Use Rules to receive such requests. Harvard may video record outdoor areas.
"At the suggestion of faculty members on the committee, Mr. Yasin has changed the title to ''Of Faith and Citizenship.'' The original title remains as the subtitle, but just the new title will appear on the commencement program... ''This won't resolve the controversy,'' Mr. Yasin, former head of the Harvard Islamic Society, said. ''I know better than that. But it will make people more at ease."
A different perspective on the atmosphere at Harvard during Commencement week was evident at the Harvard ROTC Commissioning ceremony on the day before Commencement.
As senior Elizabeth Sasse was being commissioned as an Air Force officer, her family, including former senator Ben Sasse were on stage. A lone heckler began yelling something about the University of Florida and Gaza and genocide, going on for about 30 seconds to scattered boos from the audience. When 2nd Lieutenant Sasse was then presented to the audience of several hundred, they rose in a standing ovation.
President Garber spoke at the event, and Deans Khurana and Dunne were also in attendance. To take the temperature of the deliberations at Harvard, both Deans were glad to get the hyperlink to the 2266 word tweet by Bill Ackman on the situation (https://x.com/BillAckman/status/1926871423789781233), and Senator Sasse had already read the tweet.
Another positive sign is that Dean Khurana said he is paying attention to Ira Stoll's views on the issue. Alas, next month is the last of Dean Khurana's decade as Dean of Harvard College. He will be missed. I celebrated Khurana's role in a WSJ article mirrored open-access at https://segal.org/gaza/harvardprotesters/
After Wednesday's Harvard ROTC Commissioning ceremony Senator Sasse told me that he was writing a WSJ op-ed, but I thought it would be improper to ask for any details. But unprompted I told Sasse that I was hoping to do for the Trump – Harvard standoff what we did for ROTC, which was Sasse’s favored scenario #3.
Sasse’s most important paragraph was:
"The administration speaks of Harvard as an undifferentiated monolith. In reality, large universities are like cities filled with different neighborhoods, projects and ventures rather than a single-purpose organization with one set of books reporting through a definable structure to an identifiable boss. A college president is more like a mayor than a company CEO."
This is similar to David Petraeus' dichotomy of a mixture of reconcilables and irreconcilables, which I inserted into my Israeli hospital WSJ op-ed (mirrored open-access at https://segal.org/gaza/fight/):
"In 2004 a prisoner named Yahya Sinwar received life-saving care for a brain tumor in an Israeli hospital. He was grateful but remained irreconcilable. Released from prison in 2011, he orchestrated the Oct. 7 attack. Such people have to be dealt with before the others can be reconciled."
"Pinker also writes, “I have experienced no antisemitism in my two decades at Harvard, and nor have other prominent Jewish faculty members.”... After a spate of campus rapes, would the Times publish a piece from a professor who feels an appropriate response is asserting, ‘I have taught on this campus for 20 years and have never once been raped?’"
It is complicated, but so was the ROTC issue and we got that fixed. Hopefully people who think like Senator Sasse and me can get the current problem fixed too.
A related point about this — Kim is an advocate and presumably a participant in the academic boycott of Israel -- its universities and academicians. That means she believes that Israeli researchers and scholars are undeserving of the rights and privileges of academics anywhere else, regardless of their political views or policy positions (which, in Israel as in the U.S., are often at odds with government policies). In other words, Kim believes fully and completely in the politicization of higher education, not to mention discrimination against academicians based on national identity and residency.
Isn't this what Harvard is opposed to, at least when it comes to Trump's actions against it? If so, why are they honoring her?
It is absurd that Harvard should say it has rights to be independent of government controls, yet still honors someone who is calling for the punishment of independent Israeli universities and academics.
Thanks Ira. This is another example of how out of touch Harvard and many of those on the left are about anti-Semitism. John Faso
One positive sign is that there is now prominent signage in Harvard Yard about the rules and Harvard's intention to enforce them. The following is the text of the signs:
Harvard is committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all members of the Harvard community. Please take note that the following acts are prohibited on Harvard property, including Harvard Yard:
· Erecting or maintaining a tent or other temporary structure;
· Camping or sleeping outside, with or without a tent or other temporary structure;
· Blocking a pedestrian pathway or access to building entrances;
. Amplifying noise without appropriate prior approval;
· Disturbing or using university flagpoles;
· Projecting or affixing a message or image onto a harvard [sic] building;
· Vandalizing university property; and
· Digging holes, driving stakes into the ground, or otherwise disturbing plant life on university property.
An individual who assists others in engaging in a prohibited act will be treated as if they committed the prohibited act themselves. Items brought onto Harvard property in furtherance of such prohibited acts will be subject to confiscation. Harvard will not be responsible for storing or returning any such items. Any requests for approval should be directed to Harvard Yard Operations (yardops (at sign) fas.harvard.edu), which has been designated under the Campus Use Rules to receive such requests. Harvard may video record outdoor areas.
HARVARD
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
OFFICE OF PHYSICAL RESOURCES & PLANNING
This problem is decades old and is wider than antisemitism.
In 2002, 8 months after 9/11, the student speech chosen by a faculty panel was titled "My American Jihad" by graduating senior Zayed Yasin. There was an account in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/29/education/graduates-planned-jihad-speech-raises-protest-at-harvard.html
President Larry Summers pondered what to do, and there were some minor changes:
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/01/us/harvard-student-drops-jihad-from-speech-title.html
"At the suggestion of faculty members on the committee, Mr. Yasin has changed the title to ''Of Faith and Citizenship.'' The original title remains as the subtitle, but just the new title will appear on the commencement program... ''This won't resolve the controversy,'' Mr. Yasin, former head of the Harvard Islamic Society, said. ''I know better than that. But it will make people more at ease."
A different perspective on the atmosphere at Harvard during Commencement week was evident at the Harvard ROTC Commissioning ceremony on the day before Commencement.
As senior Elizabeth Sasse was being commissioned as an Air Force officer, her family, including former senator Ben Sasse were on stage. A lone heckler began yelling something about the University of Florida and Gaza and genocide, going on for about 30 seconds to scattered boos from the audience. When 2nd Lieutenant Sasse was then presented to the audience of several hundred, they rose in a standing ovation.
President Garber spoke at the event, and Deans Khurana and Dunne were also in attendance. To take the temperature of the deliberations at Harvard, both Deans were glad to get the hyperlink to the 2266 word tweet by Bill Ackman on the situation (https://x.com/BillAckman/status/1926871423789781233), and Senator Sasse had already read the tweet.
Another positive sign is that Dean Khurana said he is paying attention to Ira Stoll's views on the issue. Alas, next month is the last of Dean Khurana's decade as Dean of Harvard College. He will be missed. I celebrated Khurana's role in a WSJ article mirrored open-access at https://segal.org/gaza/harvardprotesters/
I admire your hopefulness. I myself have lost all hope about Harvard. However, as my wife will attest, I've been known occasionally to be wrong.
Senator Sasse's op-ed on the Harvard situation has now appeared in Saturday's print WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/can-trump-force-harvard-to-improve-writes-ben-sasse-reform-universities-ba1101c2?st=2vzfbt&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
After Wednesday's Harvard ROTC Commissioning ceremony Senator Sasse told me that he was writing a WSJ op-ed, but I thought it would be improper to ask for any details. But unprompted I told Sasse that I was hoping to do for the Trump – Harvard standoff what we did for ROTC, which was Sasse’s favored scenario #3.
Sasse’s most important paragraph was:
"The administration speaks of Harvard as an undifferentiated monolith. In reality, large universities are like cities filled with different neighborhoods, projects and ventures rather than a single-purpose organization with one set of books reporting through a definable structure to an identifiable boss. A college president is more like a mayor than a company CEO."
This is similar to David Petraeus' dichotomy of a mixture of reconcilables and irreconcilables, which I inserted into my Israeli hospital WSJ op-ed (mirrored open-access at https://segal.org/gaza/fight/):
"In 2004 a prisoner named Yahya Sinwar received life-saving care for a brain tumor in an Israeli hospital. He was grateful but remained irreconcilable. Released from prison in 2011, he orchestrated the Oct. 7 attack. Such people have to be dealt with before the others can be reconciled."
The dichotomy was also well illustrated by my colleague Jeffrey Fredberg having a different experience (https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/relationships/harvard-anti-israel-palestine-protesters-982825cd) than mine (mirrored at https://segal.org/gaza/harvardprotesters/) with the Harvard encampment, and we made sure that both experiences got published.
Ira Stoll also made a similar point (https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/05/30/new-york-times-lets-harvard-professor-whitewash-universitys-jew-hate/) about Steven Pinker’s NYT article:
"Pinker also writes, “I have experienced no antisemitism in my two decades at Harvard, and nor have other prominent Jewish faculty members.”... After a spate of campus rapes, would the Times publish a piece from a professor who feels an appropriate response is asserting, ‘I have taught on this campus for 20 years and have never once been raped?’"
People need to know that most parts of Harvard are OK, but parts such as the Kennedy School (https://www.harvardsalient.com/p/class-sffa-and-ideological-diversity) and the Divinity School (https://x.com/ShabbosK/status/1927528949266911550) have problems to an appalling degree. And antisemitism is only part of the wider problem of the identity-based doctrine of intersectionality (mirrored at https://segal.org/gaza/woke/).
It is complicated, but so was the ROTC issue and we got that fixed. Hopefully people who think like Senator Sasse and me can get the current problem fixed too.