‘Actions speak louder than words’ is a common theme in our Weekly Briefings and Special Editions. But at a university like Harvard, words are more a form of governance than commentary, which is why President Alan Garber’s recent remarks stood out.
His frank admissions of where Harvard “went wrong” provide a template for the rest of the leadership. Harvard’s academic leadership — from school deans to department chairs — should echo Garber’s framing clearly and consistently: that the classroom is for scholarship, not advocacy.
Garber’s full quote is worth reading in its entirety. In a taping of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Identity/Crisis podcast, he spoke plainly about how faculty activism crept into the classroom and how it runs counter to Harvard’s academic mission.
Our mission is not to provide advocacy about an issue like the war in Gaza or what's going on in Israel, what's going on in Ukraine for that matter. It's to provide scholarship. It's to provide an accurate view, as objective a view as possible, of the history, the sociology, the politics of what's going on. What we need to arm our students with is a set of facts and a set of analytic tools and cultivation of rigor in analyzing these issues . . . how many students would actually be willing to go toe to toe against a professor who's expressed a firm view about a controversial issue?
His point isn’t theoretical. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences found that in 2024, only 33% of graduating seniors felt “free to express personal feelings and beliefs about controversial topics.”
When Harvard's leadership, from President Garber on down, articulates the standard and ties it to the University's mission, it changes what’s possible. It gives deans and department chairs a tool to set expectations. It gives faculty a mission-grounded rationale for teaching with “as objective a view as possible,” as Garber put it. And it gives students a clearer sense of what Harvard is for, and what it isn’t for.
Policies can support each of these outcomes, but they won’t deliver them on their own. Without cultural buy-in, rules become formalities that are easy to cite, ignore, or work around in practice.
So the follow-through has to be cultural: repetition from leaders and reinforcement when norms are tested, until “scholarship, not advocacy” is understood as the ordinary expectation of a Harvard classroom.
Ask 1636
Send us your Harvard and higher education questions!
Q: Based on your endowment tax model, how much do you estimate Harvard could spend in endowment tax payments over the next 10 years under the new 8% tax?
Based on our modeling parameters, we estimate Harvard could pay about $4.9 billion in endowment taxes from FY27 through FY36. For context, that’s just under half of Harvard’s current $10.3 billion in unrestricted endowment funds — though it’s not a like-for-like comparison, since the unrestricted pool (and the endowment overall) would be expected to grow over the decade, along with the annual tax base. (Read our Big Idea on why the new endowment tax is one of the most consequential but under-the-radar changes to Harvard’s finances.)
Events
Virtual — January 14 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. PT: The Harvard Club of Seattle is hosting a conversation with Sarah Karmon, Associate Vice President and Executive Director of the Harvard Alumni Association, who will provide an update on current issues, challenges, and successes at Harvard. Register here.
Toronto, Canada — January 22 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. ET: Harvard Business School (HBS) and the HBS Club of Toronto are hosting an alumni gathering with Executive Dean for Administration Angela Crispi (MBA ‘90) and Executive Director of the MBA and Doctoral Programs and External Relations Jana Kierstead. Register here.
Virtual — January 26 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET: As part of Harvard’s Speakers Bureau Spotlight Series, hear from Computer Science professor of practice David Malan (AB ‘99, PhD ‘07) on how one of Harvard’s largest courses, Computer Science 50, has incorporated and is being impacted by AI. Register here.
San Francisco, California — February 10 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. ET: HBS and the HBS Association of Northern California are hosting a reception for recent alumni (MBA ‘16-26) at the San Francisco Jazz Center. Register here.
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FYIs
Dunster House Resident Dean Removed After Resurfaced Social Media Posts
Gregory Davis has been removed from his post as Dunster House resident dean, effective immediately, according to a message circulated to House affiliates.
Appointed in 2024, Davis came under scrutiny in October 2025 after his social media posts from 2020 resurfaced, including posts that appeared to condone political violence and described “rioting and looting” as part of a democratic process.
Davis then clarified to House affiliates that the posts did not reflect his current beliefs and that he regretted their impact on the Dunster community.
Breitbart: Education Secretary McMahon Views 2026 as an Opportunity To Shift Away From Higher Ed
In a December 23 interview, Breitbart reported that Education Secretary Linda McMahon views the new year as a chance to “shift a little bit away from higher education,” after what she described as “huge gains” on college campuses related to addressing antisemitism and restricting DEI programs tied to federal funding.
McMahon cited “universities like Columbia” as an example, saying schools “knew that they needed to put policies in place for the safety of not only Jewish students, but all students on campuses.”
She also emphasized non-four-year pathways, citing demand for skilled trades (including electricians and HVAC technicians) and tech skills (including AI).
Around the same time as the interview, The New York Times reported on private correspondence between McMahon and President Alan Garber (AB ’76, PhD ’82) over settlement negotiations; McMahon described Harvard’s proposal as $300 million for workforce and trade-school programs plus a separate $200 million cash fine, while Garber responded that Harvard would be willing to invest $500 million in workforce development with no cash fine component.
Appeals Court Agrees NIH Cannot Cap Indirect Research Costs at 15%
A federal appeals court upheld a lower court injunction blocking NIH from imposing a flat 15% cap on “indirect cost” (overhead) reimbursements tied to NIH grants.
NIH’s proposed policy was first challenged in February 2025 by a coalition of universities (including MIT and three Ivies) and major higher education associations.
In April, a U.S. district judge issued an injunction permanently blocking NIH’s 15% flat cap, and the NIH quickly appealed. The First Circuit has now affirmed that ruling, keeping the existing negotiated indirect-cost rate system in place.
Separately, NIH has started issuing hundreds of decisions on grant applications — and approving most — for grants previously stalled under White House directives targeting research tied to DEI, “gender ideology,” and Covid-19. Under agreements with multiple plaintiffs, NIH has committed to deciding more than 5,000 applications on a schedule running through July 31.
More News
More News at Harvard
Harvard Divinity School: “Harvard Divinity Faculty Honored at AAR/SBL Religion Conference”
Chronicle of Higher Education: “Randall Kennedy Is Afraid. He Thinks You Should Be Too.” — featuring HLS professor Randall Kennedy
Washington Monthly: “Reports of Western Civilization’s Death at Harvard Are Greatly Exaggerated” — op-ed by Alex Bronzini Vender (AB ‘28)
More News Beyond Harvard
ABC News: “Education Department creates database of colleges' foreign funding”
Jewish Insider: “Qatar ranks as top foreign donor to American universities”
Wall Street Journal: “Elite Colleges Are Back at the Top of the List for Company Recruiters”
Fortune: “Blackstone exec says elite Ivy League degrees aren’t good enough—new analysts need to ‘work harder’ and be nice”
New York Times: “These College Students Ditched Their Phones for a Week. Could You?”
Science: “Congress set to reject Trump’s major budget cuts to NSF, NASA, and energy science”
U.S. Department of Education: “U.S. Department of Education Announces Release of $169 Million Under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education”
Higher Ed Dive: “Will higher education researchers leave for opportunities abroad?”
Inside Higher Ed: “ED Plans to ‘Harmonize’ Accountability Metrics”
The Chronicle (Duke): “5 federal actions that shaped higher education in December”
Brown Daily Herald: “Paxson announces ‘campus-wide healing and recovery effort’”
Stanford Daily: “The art of discussion: ‘Democracy and Disagreement’ looks to model difficult dialogue for students”
Daily Princetonian: “Newly released FAQs on U. recording policy, explained”
The Dartmouth: “Dartmouth to undergo ‘complete review’ of safety policies after shooting at Brown”
IP Watchdog: “Secretary Lutnick’s Royalty Grab: Bad for America—and the Administration” — by Joseph Allen, Executive Director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition
Inside Higher Ed: “How Many Vice Presidents Does a College Need?” — by Amherst College political science professor Austin Sarat
The Algemeiner: “Jewish Communal Institutions Failed the Oct. 7 Test — Mergers, Consolidations, and Closing Some Institutions Is One Answer” — by Sarah Lawrence social science professor Samuel Abrams (PhD ‘10)
Chronicle of Higher Education: “Universities Need a New Defense” — by Columbia University president emeritus Lee Bollinger
Washington Post: “Where ‘hate speech’ censorship is even worse than on U.S. campuses” — op-ed by Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) president Greg Lukianoff
Wall Street Journal: “Why Universities Can’t Be Neutral” — by UC Davis Law School professor Brian Soucek