A year can make a transformational difference in the life of an institution. That’s what has happened at Harvard, where students and faculty gave President Alan Garber a standing ovation at commencement Thursday — just a year after protests disrupted graduation ceremonies when hundreds of students walked out. A year ago, student speakers denounced the university’s administration and its trustees, who were sitting behind them. On Thursday, the speakers expressed pride in that same leadership for sticking to the university’s principles and standing up for free inquiry and free expression.
What happened in between? The answer is, at least partly, that President Donald Trump happened. In the 16 months following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Harvard was embroiled in internal conflicts over Gaza, Israel, Palestine and the boundaries of campus free speech. Then on April 11, 2024, the Trump administration sent the school a list of outrageous demands, threatening to end billions in federal research funding if it failed to comply. In response, the university made the only decision possible to protect its academic freedom and integrity: It sued and became the de facto leading institution in resisting executive overreach.
That action fundamentally changed the narrative about Harvard — from a university roiled in conflict to one united in its defense of the pursuit of truth.
I want to be clear: I am not an outside observer in this story. I’ve been a professor at the university for 17 years; I went to college at Harvard, and I was a postdoctoral fellow here. I love the university as much as it’s possible to love an institution not known for its warm, personal qualities.
More than that, I believe in the purpose of the university, captured in its motto, Veritas. The idea is not that there is a single path to truth, or that any one person or institution can ever say what the truth is. It is, rather, that the purpose of a university is to pursue the truth from every angle — without limitation, fear or assumption. The motto also means that the university should pursue the truth for as long as it takes — which is to say, forever.
An attack from outside always has a galvanizing effect — provided it doesn’t destroy the institution. The effect of Trump’s assault on Harvard has been to close the many gaps that exist within a university on questions of politics and priorities. Harvard students, faculty and staff have been given the gift of being challenged — and we have responded by explaining to ourselves as much as to the outside world why we all participate in the common enterprise of the university.
The answer that has emerged is that we are here to study, to learn, to teach and to improve people’s lives.
The internal disagreements haven’t disappeared, as they shouldn’t. Rather, everyone involved in those disagreements now understands that a functioning university is the necessary condition for even being able to express disagreement.
What’s more, internal disagreement is the necessary condition of a functioning university.
The other issue Harvard has had to confront internally is its privilege. So far, Trump has tended to target two groups; the most vulnerable, like undocumented immigrants, and the most privileged, such as elite universities and large law firms. The president’s sustained efforts to strip the university of funding and of its international students — not to mention the proposal in the House budget bill to tax its endowment at 21% — have reminded the university that the only moral justification for its privilege and its wealth is to strive for excellence in the pursuit of truth. Prestige and cultural power don’t automatically make you a great university. But having prestige and power means that Harvard has a fundamental duty to be the best that it possibly can be, and to create and discover knowledge that helps those who don’t enjoy the same privilege.
Harvard’s commencement gathers not only graduates but their families as well. Many of these family members have never attended a university. To see their joy at their children’s accomplishments and promise is to feel the promise of America itself. It’s common to see them trying on the graduate’s robe for pictures as if to say that the graduation isn’t just the accomplishment of the student but of each and every person in the lineage. I defy anyone with a heart to see this without tearing up. The image’s deeper meaning is that Harvard is — and will continue to be — a vehicle for taking some of the world’s most promising students and launching them into lives of productivity and contribution. If it took Donald Trump to remind us of what we’re here for, his attacks will have been worth it.
