The ICE Barbie and the new president of Harvard

Kristi Noem and Donald Trump the new president of Harvard?

Trump’s secretary for homeland security, Kristi Noem seems to want to focus attention on herself. She has showed up at Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in full makeup for obvious pho-ops leading some to call her ICE Barbie. She has tweeted out sensitive information. “Live this AM from NYC. I’m on it,” she posted on X on January 28 at 4:43 a.m. She visited the prison in El Salvador for a photo op wearing tight provocative clothing in front of gang members behind bars. She is also accompanied everywhere in the company of Corey Lewandowski (Trump’s ex campaign manager) amid rumors of a romantic affair (both are married to other people). The rumors have been around since 2021 and have rekindled when Lewandowski emerged as a nonpaid staff volunteer to Noem. What is interesting is that Trump nixed Noem’s desire to have Lewandowski as her chief of staff because of bad optics. One wonders what he thinks of the current “volunteer” arrangement. Regardless, Noem should know better.

Trump is also trying to make himself president of Harvard – I guess chairman of the Kennedy Center is not enough. His administration has sent Harvard a series of letters demanding certain actions to supposedly address their antisemitic behavior. He has terminated over $2 billion in grants and threatened to end $9 billion more. He has demanded that they discipline students who engage in antisemitic actions and wants Harvard to “shutter all diversity, equity and inclusion” programs, under “whatever name,” that violate federal law. I am not a lawyer but I presume that the administration has this authority under federal civil rights laws. But then the administration demands that Harvard reduce “governance bloat, duplication, or decentralization” seem over the top. Moreover, it wants Harvard to “ensure viewpoint diversity” in “each department, field, or teaching unit” and to search for plagiarism among its faculty. Huh?

Also the university must hire “a critical mass of new faculty within that department or field who will provide” that diversity and admit “a critical mass of students” to provide the same. These are akin to the demands made of Columbia which included the banning of masks and the appointing of a “senior vice provost with broad authority to oversee the department of Middle East, South Asian, African Studies and the Center for Palestine Studies. Now don’t you think this is a bit of an overreach?

Unlike Columbia which caved to the administration’s demands, Harvard resisted telling the administration to pound sand. Harvard rightly contends that the administration’s demands exceed its authority, impinges on academic freedom and basic rights guaranteed by the constitution. Indeed, The Supreme Court has ruled that the government may not use federal benefits or funds to coerce parties to surrender their constitutional rights. Isn’t this what Trump’s people are trying to do?

Speaking of Kristi Noem, she sent Harvard a “scathing” letter demanding that Harvard turn over records of foreign students who have been involved in illegal or violent activities. This is from the Harvard Crimson:

“The Department of Homeland Security sent Harvard a letter on Wednesday threatening to revoke its eligibility to enroll international students unless it submits information on international students’ disciplinary records and protest participation.

In a Wednesday press release, the DHS wrote that it had also canceled two grants worth $2.7 million to Harvard.

The letter threatening Harvard’s authorization to host international students, which was signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, accused Harvard of creating a “hostile learning environment” for Jewish students.”

(American universities may host international students on student visas only if they have certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.)

Noem’s press release also said “Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism — driven by its spineless leadership — fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security.” Wow! Sic em Kristi!

Trump has also asked the IRS to look into revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

Harvard is resisting. Its new president Alan Garber has stated that the administration’s demands violate “Harvard’s First Amendment rights and [exceed] the statutory limits of the government’s authority. No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.” Garber also said that “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.” Moreover, Garber said The University’s objectives in fighting antisemitism will “not be achieved by assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate,” Garber said. “The work of addressing our shortcomings, fulfilling our commitments, and embodying our values is ours to define and undertake as a community.”

Again, Trump is seeking to define the limits of the power of the executive in all that he does. The Supreme Court is going to have a docket full of Trump related lawsuits. But in the meanwhile, all hail the new president of Harvard University, Donald J Trump.