Conservatives see Harvard, Penn takedowns as just the beginning

The ousters of the presidents of two prestigious universities in the past month have been a cause for celebration among conservatives who think the takedowns could be stepping stones to changes they’ve long wanted in higher education.  

Harvard President Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania (Penn) President Liz Magill both lost their positions after their controversial congressional testimony at the beginning of December, with Gay also facing substantial allegations of plagiarism.  

Republicans say their departures are just the beginning of needed reforms at the schools. 

“This is only among the very first steps on a very long road to recovering or returning to higher education its true and original purposes, which is truth-seeking,” said Jay Greene, senior research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation.  

Conservatives cheered the departures, which came after the two, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sally Kornbluth, faced questions on campus antisemitism before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

"Two down. One to go," posted Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a member of the committee. "Accountability is coming."

“The long overdue forced resignations of former Presidents Claudine Gay and Liz Magill are just the beginning of the tectonic consequences from their historic morally bankrupt testimony to my questions,” Stefanik added in a statement to The Hill, mentioning an official probe into the schools that the panel has announced.

“The investigation will address all aspects of a fundamentally broken and corrupt higher education system — antisemitism on campus, taxpayer funded aid, foreign aid, DEI, accreditation, academic integrity, and governance," she said, using an acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.  

In hearings on antisemitism and college campuses, Republicans have followed up with legislation that would put more restrictions on universities, including a bill that would lower from $250,000 to $50,000 the amount of money received from foreign governments that would need to be disclosed to the Department of Education, as well as adding more contingencies on what would constitute a foreign gift.

Republicans have also said they will strip taxpayer funding from universities that they determine are not doing enough to combat antisemitism, including grants and research funding given to private institutions such as Harvard.

But their biggest target recently has been DEI programs, making the case that they have been more harmful than helpful to students.

“One of the ways I think colleges and universities have promoted antisemitic speech and behavior is through their DEI offices,” Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) said at a hearing.

Stephanie Hall, acting senior director of higher education policy at the Center for American Progress, said she finds it "really concerning" that a congressional committee is attempting to investigate DEI at universities. 

Hall said the Department of Education can handle complaints over civil rights violations at schools and the panel should instead "focus on keeping the government open, keeping federal funds flowing to institutions so they can operate at a level that makes sure your students' needs are being met." 

But the goals of House Republicans are aligned with those who have long argued that higher education is heading in the wrong direction under progressive leadership. 

Greene said he is hopeful “additional people are going to have to be removed, both leaders of universities and their underlings, because they're also significant actors in this. It's not just at the top, but it's kind of throughout these institutions.” 

He also specifically called for the dismantling of DEI efforts on campus and disciplines such as gender studies, another popular GOP target.

Such efforts have been in motion long before the shake-ups at Penn and Harvard.

In Texas, a law banning diversity programs at public universities took effect in the new year. And last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) also signed a bill to defund DEI programs at public universities.  

“I think the momentum was already there. Though, I think the results of the hearing, the move by a couple of those presidents to resign after that hearing, that has ramped up the momentum for targeting DEI even further,” Hall said.

A tracker by The Chronicle of Higher Education last year found 40 bills had been introduced in states across the country to try to restrict DEI programs, diversity statements and mandatory diversity training at schools.

Opponents argue the efforts to oust the presidents are politically motivated and fueling distrust among all higher education.  

"What we saw go down with the president at Harvard is something the institution can likely weather and get through because they are Harvard ... [But] it is concerning for what could happen across higher ed in terms of targeting other scholars, targeting other institutional leaders,” Hall said.  

“We've got a vocal minority that's using just bad faith attacks, using the phrase DEI, to attack academic freedom and to really hijack higher ed and undermine public support for it,” she added.