Harvard faces demands that billions of dollars in federal payments and tax breaks be withdrawn for failing to address anti-Semitism on campus.
The university benefits from hundreds of millions of dollars in direct federal payments, and even more from extensive tax breaks that have helped make it the richest academic institution in the world.
Harvard, led by controversial president Claudine Gay, is being investigated by the federal Department of Education for whether it has violated the civil rights of Jewish students, which are protected by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Elise Stefanik, the New York Republican whose questioning of Gay on the House Education and Workforce Committee last week left the college leader’s career in crisis, told The Post she wanted to “defund.”
“We must defund the rot in higher education in America,” he said.
“It is unacceptable and un-American that taxpayer money goes to universities to prop up their promulgation of anti-Semitism by supporting faculty, students and staff, many of whom have openly called for the genocide of the Jews.
This is the moment Elise Stefanik questioned Harvard President Claudine Gay, prompting the university leader to say that students could call for Jewish genocide without being disciplined at Harvard. REUTERS Days after Hamas killed 1,200 Jews in southern Israel, pro-Palestinian groups at Harvard demonstrated in support of the terrorist group. Since then, the campus has been plagued by anti-Semitism. AFP via Getty Images
“We will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that schools that protect and foster anti-Semitism are deprived of all federal funding.”
And Rep. Eli Crane (R-Az) told the Post that he is introducing a bill to make Harvard and other universities face real financial consequences if they are found to have fostered anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of the terrorist massacres of Israelis in the October 7 by Hamas. .
“The American higher education system is a fraud that forces taxpayers to first subsidize schools before forcing them to repay student loans they did not choose to accept,” Crane said in a statement to the Post on Wednesday about his HR 6220 bill. .
Eli Crane, a Republican in the Arizona House of Representatives, introduced a bill that would defund Ivy League universities, including Harvard, which is being investigated for violating the civil rights of Jewish students. Getty Images New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is leading calls to defund Harvard in the wake of its handling of the wave of anti-Semitism on campus following the Hamas massacre of innocent Israelis on October 7. AP
“Schools act like bandits, indoctrinating our young people with hate and deception, while taxpayers fund it all. “My bill begins to combat this scheme.”
Crane’s bill comes after the Harvard Corporation, its highest governing body, allowed Gay to remain president, despite disastrous testimony before Congress on anti-Semitism, which included saying that calling for Jewish genocide does not It was automatically a violation of campus rules, so he had to apologize.
Harvard now faces increasing pressure over the huge amount of money it receives from the federal government.
That reached a record $676 million this year in direct payments and a $25 million payment from Covid rescue funds, the university reported in its fiscal 2023 statement.
Harvard’s federal funding for 2023 broke records and, in addition to the direct amount, it benefits from tax breaks to increase its wealth and gets more federal money through student tuition payments.
The university said 64% of its research funding comes directly from federal departments, with the largest portion allocated by the Department of Health and Human Services.
On top of that, an undisclosed amount of the $1.33 billion it received in student tuition came from Pell Grants and federal student loans.
But the main way Harvard, like other universities, benefits from federal largesse is its tax-free status.
Donations are tax deductible, an incentive for donors to lavish generously.
Harvard is tax-exempt, allowing it to benefit from not paying taxes on transactions that would be taxed on ordinary citizens or corporations.
That has allowed it to increase its endowment to just under $51 billion. And it benefits even more from tax breaks because its money managers trade stocks, bonds and property without paying capital gains taxes, corporate taxes or taxes on interest payments and dividends.
In 2023, it raised $186 million more than it spent, a figure a for-profit company would pay taxes on.
And last year he got $2.46 billion from the endowment fund, but paid only 1.4% in taxes on that amount, instead of the up to 37% that an individual taxpayer would face.
The 1.4% tax was introduced in the face of intense pressure from the president of Harvard. Trump-era 2017 tax reforms, which imposed the tax on donations from universities with at least 500 tuition-paying students and net assets of at least $500,000 per student.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, a Harvard Law School graduate, questioned why federal funds support Ivy League schools that promote anti-Semitism during a campaign stop in Iowa this week. AP
Harvard, with 23,000 students, has $3 million in net assets per student thanks to its endowment, according to Richard Vedder, distinguished professor emeritus of economics at Ohio University and a senior fellow at the Independent Institute, an economist who studies finance and higher education.
“These are not trivial amounts of money,” he told The Post.
“I would like to sell my shares and not pay any capital gains! “Harvard has all kinds of special privileges built into the tax code.”
Everything you need to know about embattled Harvard president Claudine Gay
Harvard President Claudine Gay faces calls to resign amid a growing anti-Semitism and plagiarism scandal. AP
Harvard President Claudine Gay is facing calls to resign as she grapples with a growing anti-Semitism crisis and new accusations of plagiarism of many of her academic works.
This is how we got here:
Vedder has compared government subsidies and tax breaks at Ivy League universities and public schools, and has concluded that students at Ivy League schools receive more subsidies than students at public institutions.
“Using donations primarily to keep student tuition down is very rare,” Vedder said in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee in 2015. “As a general rule, donations increase university revenue, in instead of reducing student costs.”
Harvard President Claudine Gay was allowed to keep her job after disastrous testimony before Congress for which she had to apologize. REUTERS
Calls for Harvard and other members of the Ivy League to be defunded have been growing since October 7 and the tide of anti-Israel protests on their campuses, which have drawn praise for Hamas.
In October, Republican Sen. Tim Scott (R.S.C.) introduced parallel legislation in the Senate to defund universities, including Harvard, that “fund or facilitate events that promote violent anti-Semitism.”
“Any university or college that promotes blatant anti-Semitism, especially after Hamas’ brutal attack on Israeli civilians, women and children, has no place in shaping the minds of future generations, much less receiving millions of taxpayer funds to do so. “Scott said in a statement.
“No college or university should receive a single cent from the federal government to fund violent anti-Semitism.”
Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, a Harvard Law School graduate, joined the calls in an interview with WHO 1040.
Harvard students continued to support Hamas terrorists days after the Harvard Corporation voted not to fire Claudine Gay despite allegations of plagiarism and her testimony before Congress last week. David McGlynn
“These are universities that will justify saying it’s okay to talk about the genocide of Jews because of free speech, but they don’t allow free speech on their universities,” he said.
“We have to be smart when dealing with these universities. “We cannot continue to fund universities that are creating this type of toxic environment and ideology.”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk also joined calls to defund the university. posting on X on Monday“Defunding Harvard is the only thing that will work.”
I was responding to a post by C. Bradley Thompson, who posted: “@Harvard is gone. It can’t be saved. Harvard has an endowment of $50 billion. You should never receive a penny of taxpayer money again. #defundHarvard.” Thompson is a professor of political science at Clemson University.
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