‘Their sins are forgiven’: Trump says Harvard University to run ‘trade schools’ under upcoming deal
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Trump officials have accused Harvard University and other schools of promoting “woke” ideology while failing to sufficiently protect its Jewish students during protests.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Sept 30 said his administration was close to reaching a US$500 million (S$645.5 million) financial settlement with Harvard University under which the elite academic institution would operate trade schools.
The comments mark the latest twist in his unprecedented crackdown on Harvard over claims of anti-Semitism and bias – claims the university denies, saying that the federal government is actually focused on controlling its hiring, admissions and curriculum.
“Well, we’re in the process of getting very close,” Mr Trump said at the White House. “They’d be paying about US$500 million and they’d be operating trade schools.
“They’re going to be teaching people how to do AI and lots of other things, engines, lots of things. You know, it’s a big investment in trade school done by very smart people, and then their sins are forgiven.”
Harvard did not immediately respond when asked about Mr Trump’s comments.
Trump officials have accused Harvard and other schools of promoting so-called “woke” ideology while failing to sufficiently protect its Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests.
In early September, a Boston judge ordered the administration to lift its freeze on approximately US$2.6 billion in federal funds for Harvard, writing that the US Department of Education “used anti-Semitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this country’s premier universities”.
Two weeks later, the administration imposed fresh restrictions on Harvard’s access to government money, requiring the university to use its own funds to pay out student financial aid packages that federal officials have promised.
In July, Columbia University agreed to pay US$200 million to the administration and pledged to obey rules that bar it from taking race into consideration in admissions or hiring.
The University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League institution, also bowed to Trump administration concerns, announcing it would ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports. AFP
