Education Sec. Linda McMahon defended President Donald Trump’s efforts to reform Harvard University during a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill.
McMahon appeared before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee and faced lengthy criticism from Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., over the administration’s actions against Harvard.
Murphy began by arguing the Trump administration’s instructions to Harvard were contradictory.
“You told [Harvard] that they had to end all of their diversity programs, but then that they had to institute viewpoint diversity,” Murphy said. “That doesn’t make sense.”
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“How do you tell them to end all their diversity programs…while instituting viewpoint diversity?” he asked.
“No, the diversity programs we’ve asked and demanded to be eliminated were the DEI, where those programs were actually pitting one group against another,” McMahon responded.
“Isn’t viewpoint diversity a diversity program?” Murphy pressed.
“Viewpoint diversity is an exchange of ideas,” McMahon retorted. “Now here, because Harvard only has 3%, by its own numbers, conservative faculty. Do you think they are allowing enough viewpoint diversity?”
Murphy then shifted to the authority underpinning the Trump administration’s effort, demanding to know what stature allowed them to “micromanage” Harvard’s policies.
“The statute is Title VI,” McMahon says after a number of confused exchanges. “That is why we filed a case and defunded, or stopped the funding for a while, for Harvard as well as we did Columbia.”
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“I don’t understand any conception of civil rights law to give you the authorization to micromanage viewpoint diversity on campus. That’s not authorized under the civil rights title provided to you by the United States Congress,” Murphy said, closing out his questioning.
The Trump administration is threatening to pull all federal funds from Harvard, amounting to a staggering $100 million in contracts, if it does not comply with the administration’s reforms.
So far, Harvard has remained resistant.