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Doyle Rowland's avatar

MSU Board of Trustees are elected officials. Vassar completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. For the question, "What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?", she answered, "Integrity and relationships." I guess she didn't specify good relationships.

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Max Roberts's avatar

Those who get their skivvies in a twist, when gov't cuts its largesse to Harvard need a deep, mind-cleansing breath.

Pro-Palestinians should be able to speak in Palestine's favor. That is not the point.

But pro-Palestinians should not stop pro-Israelis from speaking, drowning them out with noise, deplatforming speakers, trespassing, occupying or defacing buildings, threatening, urging others' harm or death, striking, spitting on, pushing, shoving, blocking their passage or assembly in public places. Such prohibitions apply to everyone.

Harvard whose motto is 'Veritas', ie, 'Truth' --one of three transcendental values, forgets the very point of free speech and respectful silence to let ALL points of view to be heard.

With both a PhD and and MD, Pres Garber is surely intelligent, yet one would never know it. He recognises all of free speech's requirements when applied to one faction's right but not to another's.

So to ensure Harvard honors the Constitution's guarantee of free speech to all citisens, our vulgarian President Trump has tried getting Harvard's attention by withholding funding that was given assuming Harvard would always honor free speech and a half dozen other rights of peaceful students. Maybe losing its tax exemption will finally wake Garber up.

Even a vulgarian like Trump can be right and an intellectual brahmin like Garber can be wrong.

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Ura Rodny's avatar

Harvard did way more than stopping pro-Israel speech for the racist mobs harassed the Jews when they merely walked or read without any reaction from the administration or faculty.

Most important, Harvard cannot be allowed to teach and spread absolute hatred and nonsense and, at the same time, pretend to be a center of knowledge and enlightenment. In science one is not free to pronounce whatever garbage he/she fancies. That’s why we call it Science, not Socialism or Islam or DIE.

It is, therefore, important to confront Mr. Lukianoff when he presents Harvard organised actions as some random utterances made by selected members of faculty or students. It was not and it is not a free speech issue but another case of racial oppression and proliferation of Aryan or Islamic or Socialist Science. Vocal, bombastic Trump is right attacking Harvard. Every normal person should be doing the same.

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