Operation by Derrick Max, president of Thomas Jefferson Institute
All taxpayer dollars sent to any university or private enterprise should be scrutinized in detail. For billions sent to Harvard and other elite schools, investigations imposed by the Trump administration have long been delayed.
Research grants that make up the majority of Harvard’s non-medical federal funds are notoriously lacking transparency, and are a type of grant that uses funds for “indirect costs” that will make universities almost free, and are not available to most other universities and universities in the country.
Federal officials are concerned about salvation that federal government officials take “conservative” as more than three-quarters of Harvard faculty self-identifies as “left” or “left”, and 65% of Harvard alumni identify “progressive” (only 12% who identify as “conservative”);
With famous liberal alumni like former presidents John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama and liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, it is no wonder Harvard is seen as the intellectual center of intellectual progressivism, a crime that is a lot of crimes against many of the ones rejected by voters in this last election. President Trump is right to look at Harvard University with distrust, if not just a bit of a problem. We and most conservatives agree on this.
Throwing inactive responses to ramping anti-Semitism on Ivy League and other university campuses, there is good reason to reconsider the taxpayer funds given to these institutions.
However, this sloppy and scrutiny should not be leaked considering it challenges Harvard’s tax-free status. President Trump’s mention of removing Harvard’s preferred tax status could only be part of a broader negotiation strategy (3D chess), but would set a dangerous precedent.
Such a move will undoubtedly spread across the crosshairs of future progressive presidents who will use Liberty University, the largest university in Virginia and the other 18 Christian universities in the federation, using Liberty’s policies as justification to end tax status.
They will also open schools like Patrick Henry College in Loudon County. They do not receive federal funding and do not even allow students to use federal student aid. In fact, the unprecedented penalties imposed by the Biden Department of Education on Liberty University (and Grand Canyon University) are indications that this is a very real risk.
Tax exemption politicization sets awful precedent, as most often seen in Governor Youngkin’s ongoing battle to prevent the General Assembly from impose ideological views on federal systems. Currently sitting at Governor Youngkin’s desk is a law that removes tax-free status for several Confederate groups in Virginia, like Confederate daughters.
Governor Youngkin rejected the same law last year, leaving him just over a week to decide whether to use the rejection pen again this year. Governor Youngkin’s rejection last year was spectacular and needs to provide insight to the Trump administration in his handling of Harvard.
Governor Youngkin instead acknowledges that far from eschewing the controversial history of the organization that led to the push to remove tax exemptions, and that the groups that have acquired tax exemptions are clearly offensive in our current cultural discourse. Specifically, the governor wrote:
Among these [tax exempt] Groups, some organizations, have offensive titles in contemporary discourse, such as outdated references to people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Some organizations refer to political affiliations, and some engage in political contributions such as Ocean View Democratic and Social Clubs, while others are historical societies in which lineages are involved in controversial times such as civil wars presented by Confederate daughters.
However, Governor Youngkin resigned from his veto by citing concerns about precedents targeting specific groups. Again, in the Governor’s words:
If you narrowly target certain organizations to obtain or lose such tax exemptions, you have set inappropriate precedents. Choosing winners and losers is indiscretionary and undermines tax impartiality. (Bold added for emphasis)
President Trump’s threat to revoke Harvard’s tax-free status raises questions about the relationship between political power, freedom of speech and tax policy, while arising from a different context.
Both situations highlight the complexity of determining when and how your tax-exempt status should be revoked. Tax exemptions are often seen as privileges that extend to organizations that serve public goods. However, the definition of “public good” can be contested, especially when it comes to organizations that promote controversial or divisive views. Therefore, only the most extreme circumstances must ensure revocation.
In an ideologically divided society, decisions like Governor Youngkin’s veto and President Trump’s threat raise fundamental questions about the role of government in maintaining fundamental freedoms while shaping public discourse and promoting social values.
The 1983 Supreme Court decision at Bob Jones University v. United States takes precedence on the right side of the IRS (priority is the use of attractive public interest to maintain or revoke religious freedom claims, but I wonder if this decision is liable for some of the politicization and unfair audits of right-leaning organizations during the Obama administration.
These cases raise concerns about the possibility that future political leaders may use the threat of revoking tax exemption situations as a tool to curb exemptions. This can have a calm influence on academic and religious freedom and lead to censorship of politically motivated ideas. The long-term implications of such actions are profound and can reconstruct the landscape of higher education and undermine the principles of free research and open discussion.
To maintain his freedom, Governor Youngkin should reject bills targeting tax exemptions for Confederate groups, and President Trump should remove the threat to Harvard’s tax exemptions.
Derrick Max is president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson Institute of Public Policy. He can reach with [email protected].
