War on Universities, Lawyers & Expertise

[4thgenheel]

The Little-Known Bureaucrats Tearing Through American Universities​

A new task force formed to combat antisemitism is using funding threats to force broader changes on campus​

—> https://www.wsj.com/us-news/educati...4e?st=dby1es&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

“… Called the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, the group’s stated goal is to “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses,” a mission that emerged from pro-Palestinian protests that disrupted campuses last year. But along the way, the task force is taking on university culture more broadly in ways that echo the MAGA dreams for remaking higher education—including ending racial preferences in admissions and hiring.

The task-force leaders have unprecedented leverage, thanks to a financial assault on higher education by the Trump administration that has no equal since the federal government began pumping money into research at universities during World War II. The Trump administration has pulled or frozen more than $11 billion in funding from at least seven universities. The tactics and agencies have varied but the top-line intent, Trump said on the campaign trail, is to wrest control of universities from the far left.

… The handful of government officials driving the group aren’t household names. Aside from Keveney, the acting general counsel at HHS, they include a former Fox News commentator; a onetime leader of the Justice Department civil-rights division; and a government procurement official who spent much of his career in finance.

… In the move-fast-and break-things model of the Trump administration, the task force is deploying a range of legal tools and interpreting them expansively—moves hailed as brilliant and long overdue by conservative critics of universities.

… University leaders who are dealing with the task force use words like “scary” and “unsettling.” Academics say the group’s blunt negotiation approach is a sharp contrast to the more collaborative style of the Education Department officials they historically have met with to discuss campus problems.

…
The task force asked Harvard to not only protect Jewish students and faculty from antisemitism but to reform the campus culture by making structural changes to governance, student admissions and faculty hiring. Those changes are aimed at improving viewpoint diversity, and ending “ideological capture,” the task force wrote.

Advocates of the strategy contend there is a logical bridge between antisemitism, anti-Western ideologies and what they contend is an intolerant progressive orthodoxy on campus.

Academic theories on “settler colonialism” hold that Israel is a white supremacist state created by the theft of land from Palestinians. Demonizing Zionism has fueled antisemitism on college campuses, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which has tracked reports of such behavior since 2014. …”

the "jews will not replace us!" crowd pretending to care about antisemitism is so hilarious and transparently bullshit.

 

[nycfan]

The Little-Known Bureaucrats Tearing Through American Universities​

A new task force formed to combat antisemitism is using funding threats to force broader changes on campus​

—> https://www.wsj.com/us-news/educati...4e?st=dby1es&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

“… Called the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, the group’s stated goal is to “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses,” a mission that emerged from pro-Palestinian protests that disrupted campuses last year. But along the way, the task force is taking on university culture more broadly in ways that echo the MAGA dreams for remaking higher education—including ending racial preferences in admissions and hiring.

The task-force leaders have unprecedented leverage, thanks to a financial assault on higher education by the Trump administration that has no equal since the federal government began pumping money into research at universities during World War II. The Trump administration has pulled or frozen more than $11 billion in funding from at least seven universities. The tactics and agencies have varied but the top-line intent, Trump said on the campaign trail, is to wrest control of universities from the far left.

… The handful of government officials driving the group aren’t household names. Aside from Keveney, the acting general counsel at HHS, they include a former Fox News commentator; a onetime leader of the Justice Department civil-rights division; and a government procurement official who spent much of his career in finance.

… In the move-fast-and break-things model of the Trump administration, the task force is deploying a range of legal tools and interpreting them expansively—moves hailed as brilliant and long overdue by conservative critics of universities.

… University leaders who are dealing with the task force use words like “scary” and “unsettling.” Academics say the group’s blunt negotiation approach is a sharp contrast to the more collaborative style of the Education Department officials they historically have met with to discuss campus problems.

…
The task force asked Harvard to not only protect Jewish students and faculty from antisemitism but to reform the campus culture by making structural changes to governance, student admissions and faculty hiring. Those changes are aimed at improving viewpoint diversity, and ending “ideological capture,” the task force wrote.

Advocates of the strategy contend there is a logical bridge between antisemitism, anti-Western ideologies and what they contend is an intolerant progressive orthodoxy on campus.

Academic theories on “settler colonialism” hold that Israel is a white supremacist state created by the theft of land from Palestinians. Demonizing Zionism has fueled antisemitism on college campuses, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which has tracked reports of such behavior since 2014. …”

“…
In letters to universities, including Columbia and Harvard, the task force has cited civil-rights laws that encompass antisemitism, including Title VI and Title VII. But its tactic of targeting funding first and then beginning conversations is unprecedented, education lawyers say.

Typically, the Education Department’s civil-rights arm handles such investigations—which can take months or even years—and hardly ever end with federal funds being cut. Instead, the investigations often result in voluntary settlements that some attorneys consider toothless.

… The administration has also said at times that money is no longer being used for projects that align with White House “priorities,” a sweeping interpretation that has opened the door to potentially canceling billions of dollars of federal funds over ideology.

… Leo Terrell, a Justice Department political appointee and former Fox News commentator, was announced as the head of the task force when it was created in February. The longtime civil-rights lawyer and friend of O.J. Simpson, who switched political affiliations from Democrat to Republican in 2020, said on Fox News last month that, “We’re going to bankrupt these universities” if they do not “play ball.”

… The White House has, on its own without coordinating with the task force, been taking some actions against universities, including freezing funds to Cornell.

… The task force appears, at least at times, to be making decisions independent of cabinet-level Trump appointees. McMahon, the education secretary, said she had a meeting in March set with Columbia’s Armstrong to discuss antisemitism, not realizing that it was the same day that $400 million in funding cancellations would be announced. “I found out just before I went in,” she said. McMahon said she had known the action against Columbia was a possibility and that she delivered the news.

… Separately, at least 60 colleges and universities are under investigation by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights for their alleged inaction in protecting Jewish students and staff.

… At a 2021 speech to the National Conservatism Conference, now-Vice President JD Vance, who at the time wasn’t in public office, said: “I think if any of us want to do the things that we want to do for our country and for the people who live in it, we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.”

… Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who helped craft the Trump administration blueprint to cut waste in government and attack DEI in universities, said the public’s anger with higher education has made the sector a prime target to attack. …”

 

[superrific]

the "jews will not replace us!" crowd pretending to care about antisemitism is so hilarious and transparently bullshit.

It's honestly one of the things that depresses me the most. It's not the most consequential, but the cynical weaponization of this bogus antisemitism narrative is so dispiriting precisely because it's so Orwellian and yet so many people appear to be hopping on.

Every single one of the Jews harassed at Columbia or Harvard will be just fine. Because, after all, they are at Harvard or Columbia. One of the most important products that top universities sell, that people don't really appreciate, is "margin of error." It's the ability to get back on one's feet after fucking up, or being fucked up, simply by virtue of the connections you make at those schools and the meaning of those diplomas. Fuck up with an App St. degree and you might find trouble finding your next employment. Fuck up with a Harvard degree and . . . it's probably going to take more fucking up to have any impact.

That's not to say that antisemitism is cool, that I approve of what was happening on campuses, that we should make no effort to protect students at elite universities. Obviously not. It's just that antisemitism at Harvard is quite simply not a national emergency. People who are letting these episodes affect their political views writ large are making a big mistake. Some of them, like Bill Ackman, are using this as cover for other ideological interests, but we are chasing off foreigners because a tiny fraction of foreigners were confrontational and arguably antisemitic (I would say on average the campus protesters were not, but of course there were a few exceptions) and that's just disastrous on so many levels.

 

[CRHeel94]

I'm interested to see how this Harvard-Trump tussle unfolds.

I don't see Harvard backing down.

 

[Calheel]

I'm interested to see how this Harvard-Trump tussle unfolds.

I don't see Harvard backing down.

If a court orders the funds released and Trump orders them to stay frozen, I'd think a court might have a little more leverage in that situation then in some of the other constitutional crisis questions, including potentially being able to jail lower level employees who refuse to release funds or reinstating employment for those employees who do release the funds.

 

[4thgenheel]

It's honestly one of the things that depresses me the most. It's not the most consequential, but the cynical weaponization of this bogus antisemitism narrative is so dispiriting precisely because it's so Orwellian and yet so many people appear to be hopping on.

Every single one of the Jews harassed at Columbia or Harvard will be just fine. Because, after all, they are at Harvard or Columbia. One of the most important products that top universities sell, that people don't really appreciate, is "margin of error." It's the ability to get back on one's feet after fucking up, or being fucked up, simply by virtue of the connections you make at those schools and the meaning of those diplomas. Fuck up with an App St. degree and you might find trouble finding your next employment. Fuck up with a Harvard degree and . . . it's probably going to take more fucking up to have any impact.

That's not to say that antisemitism is cool, that I approve of what was happening on campuses, that we should make no effort to protect students at elite universities. Obviously not. It's just that antisemitism at Harvard is quite simply not a national emergency. People who are letting these episodes affect their political views writ large are making a big mistake. Some of them, like Bill Ackman, are using this as cover for other ideological interests, but we are chasing off foreigners because a tiny fraction of foreigners were confrontational and arguably antisemitic (I would say on average the campus protesters were not, but of course there were a few exceptions) and that's just disastrous on so many levels.

well said.

the alleged antisemitism is just a cover for widespread xenophobia. they're using it as a cudgel to expel non-christians, brown folks, academics, progressives, etc. etc. anyone who is vulnerable and against their movement / undesirable in their eyes.

 

[Duke Mu]

So nice, I'll post it twice. I mean the idiocy of cutting off science R&D while attempting to increase domestic innovation and product development is epically dumb.

 

[superrific]

I'm interested to see how this Harvard-Trump tussle unfolds.

I don't see Harvard backing down.

It will take very little time in court. Harvard's position is unassailably correct -- especially when one considers what the administration was actually asking for. That letter from the administration to Harvard, and the list of demands, it's wild.

The question will be what happens after the court issues its order.

 

[Calheel]

It will take very little time in court. Harvard's position is unassailably correct -- especially when one considers what the administration was actually asking for. That letter from the administration to Harvard, and the list of demands, it's wild.

The question will be what happens after the court issues its order.

The last sentence is the kicker.

None of these law firms, universities, media companies, etc. are settling with Trump based on legal merits. There are so many ancillary issues that are driving the decision.

 

[ZenMode]

This is the way this is being portrayed on the right....

In order to receive federal money, you can't be in violation of the Civil Rights Act. If a university was as complicit in allowing anti-black sentiment as Harvard has been in anti-Jew sentiment, it seems likely that opinions would be different.

Nobody is saying Harvard, or any other private university, can't allow any speech they'd like. They just can't do it and get taxpayer money.

 

[4thgenheel]

This is the way this is being portrayed on the right....

In order to receive federal money, you can't be in violation of the Civil Rights Act. If a university was as complicit in allowing anti-black sentiment as Harvard has been in anti-Jew sentiment, it seems likely that opinions would be different.

Nobody is saying Harvard, or any other private university, can't allow any speech they'd like. They just can't do it and get taxpayer money.

yes, we know. and here you are carrying their water and giving credence to their bullshit.

the right sits on a throne of lies.

 

[ZenMode]

yes, we know. and here you are carrying their water and giving credence to their bullshit.

the right sits on a throne of lies.

Yes. Presenting a point that may not have been presented here is "carrying water".

It may not be legal to revoke currently committed funds but based on the Congressional hearings involving schools that took a very lax approach to anti-Semitic protests, some apparently threatening behavior toward Jewish students and faculty, it doesn't seem unjustified. If there was similar racist behavior/protesting permitted, my opinion would be unchanged.

 

[4thgenheel]

Yes. Presenting a point that may not have been presented here is "carrying water".

It may not be legal to revoke currently committed funds but based on the Congressional hearings involving schools that took a very lax approach to anti-Semitic protests, some apparently threatening behavior toward Jewish students and faculty, it doesn't seem unjustified. If there was similar racist behavior/protesting permitted, my opinion would be unchanged.

its all based on the lie that any and all anti-israel sentiment is antisemitic.

"it doesn't seem unjustified" and "my opinion" makes it clear that you agree with this bullshit.

does it strike you as a bit odd that the university presidents at harvard, princeton, MIT and wesleyan amongst others are jewish and are all staunchly against this admin's supposed antisemitism task force?

 

[superrific]

In order to receive federal money, you can't be in violation of the Civil Rights Act.

This is misleading. Universities who receive federal funding violate the CRA if they discriminate (using intentionally vague terminology), and the government can enforce that violation. There is a process that has to be followed. The Education Dept can't just say, "nope, no more money for you." That's not how the law works. In addition, I think that schools must be given an opportunity to cure and come into compliance. I'm not expert in this area and there might be posters who are, so I will defer in advance.

All the other shit that Trump was demanding -- it's patently unconstitutional, it has no relationship to the CRA violations alleged, and he lacks statutory authority to do anything of the sort. You can carry that message back to the right-wing boards. Process is important. Process is part of freedom. There can be neither law nor liberty if the government doesn't have to obey rules about how to conduct its affairs.

 

[nycfan]

Not sure this is an ALL CAPS lede but good news

 

[ZenMode]

its all based on the lie that any and all anti-israel sentiment is antisemitic.

I don't think it's the land, trees or animals that Muslims/terrorists hate.

"it doesn't seem unjustified" and "my opinion" makes it clear that you agree with this bullshit.

I want universities to be consistent with the enforcement of racist/bigoted behavior, yes.

does it strike you as a bit odd that the university presidents at harvard, princeton, MIT and wesleyan amongst others are jewish and are all staunchly against this admin's supposed antisemitism task force?

Not really. Not everyone is equally "Jewish". Does it strike you that many big-money donors/alumni had to threaten to pull money to get the university to address the issue?

 

[breepf]

Not really. Not everyone is equally "Jewish". Does it strike you that many big-money donors/alumni had to threaten to pull money to get the university to address the issue?

In the last 48 hours, you've argued that, past and present, black Americans have enjoyed unbelievable and unfair luck. Now some Jews are more Jewish than other Jews. You are an absolute fucking genius.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

“…
In letters to universities, including Columbia and Harvard, the task force has cited civil-rights laws that encompass antisemitism, including Title VI and Title VII. But its tactic of targeting funding first and then beginning conversations is unprecedented, education lawyers say.

Typically, the Education Department’s civil-rights arm handles such investigations—which can take months or even years—and hardly ever end with federal funds being cut. Instead, the investigations often result in voluntary settlements that some attorneys consider toothless.

… The administration has also said at times that money is no longer being used for projects that align with White House “priorities,” a sweeping interpretation that has opened the door to potentially canceling billions of dollars of federal funds over ideology.

… Leo Terrell, a Justice Department political appointee and former Fox News commentator, was announced as the head of the task force when it was created in February. The longtime civil-rights lawyer and friend of O.J. Simpson, who switched political affiliations from Democrat to Republican in 2020, said on Fox News last month that, “We’re going to bankrupt these universities” if they do not “play ball.”

… The White House has, on its own without coordinating with the task force, been taking some actions against universities, including freezing funds to Cornell.

… The task force appears, at least at times, to be making decisions independent of cabinet-level Trump appointees. McMahon, the education secretary, said she had a meeting in March set with Columbia’s Armstrong to discuss antisemitism, not realizing that it was the same day that $400 million in funding cancellations would be announced. “I found out just before I went in,” she said. McMahon said she had known the action against Columbia was a possibility and that she delivered the news.

… Separately, at least 60 colleges and universities are under investigation by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights for their alleged inaction in protecting Jewish students and staff.

… At a 2021 speech to the National Conservatism Conference, now-Vice President JD Vance, who at the time wasn’t in public office, said: “I think if any of us want to do the things that we want to do for our country and for the people who live in it, we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.”

… Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who helped craft the Trump administration blueprint to cut waste in government and attack DEI in universities, said the public’s anger with higher education has made the sector a prime target to attack. …”

I've posted this before, but in a party filled with dangerous extremists Christopher Rufo is among the most dangerous, especially when it comes to higher ed. He's very effective at using social media to attack universities and public ed, and while he is a grifter he also seems to be a true believer in that he really does seem to believe that most universities are dominated by Marxism and other "far left" ideas that need to be purged - forcibly if necessary - from college campuses. He's also a major troll and loves suing liberals and media outlets that criticize him at the drop of a hat and demanding they publicly apologize and admit that he was right about whatever they were criticizing him for.

As a DeSantis-appointed trustee he's been one of the leaders in transforming the New College in Florida into a kind of right-wing Hillsdale College model, and when the students and parents there protested the changes he actually left a trustee meeting to come out and taunt the protestors. He's an asshole and a dangerous one if you believe in academic freedom. I'm surprised that Trump didn't just make him Secretary of Education, but he clearly is still an influential force among Republicans and in the Trump administration when it comes to their treatment of higher ed and public elementary, middle, and high schools.

 

[Zoo_View]

In the last 48 hours, you've argued that, past and present, black Americans have enjoyed unbelievable and unfair luck. Now some Jews are more Jewish than other Jews. You are an absolute fucking genius.

 

[1moretimeagain]