Members and Leadership of Society Join Statement Supporting Harvard
A group of right-of-center lawyers, scholars, and former government officials, including members and leadership of the Society for the Rule of Law Institute, joined a statement opposing the Trump Administration’s efforts to restrict the speech of Harvard and other universities.
Originally published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the statement argues that the Trump administration’s demands violate Harvard’s First Amendment rights as a private university by targeting certain viewpoints and attempting to control the expression it permits on its campus.
The statement reads in part:
Since Harvard declined the administration’s demands, the administration has frozen $2.2 billion in federal funds, and the President has suggested that the IRS revoke the university’s tax exemption based on the viewpoints that Harvard assertedly promotes and tolerates. These actions, taken in direct retaliation for Harvard standing up for academic freedom, strike at the core of the liberty our Constitution protects. We urge the administration to reinstate Harvard’s funding, and halt its retaliatory treatment of the university.
Society signatories include:
- George Conway
- Donald B. Ayer
- Barbara Comstock
- J. Michael Luttig
- Alan Charles Raul
- Peter Keisler
- Stuart Gerson