Harvard Prof.: Gov’t Antisemitism Allegations ‘Baseless’, Harvard’s in a World ‘Full of Bigotry’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Harvard History Professor Alison Frank Johnson stated that the federal government’s allegations about Harvard are “baseless” and “To the extent that Harvard is an institution in the world that we live in, the world that we live in is full of bias. It’s full of bigotry. It’s full of discrimination of all kinds.” And the school has to deal with disagreements over what is legitimate disagreement and what isn’t “just like any other complex institution.”

Co-host Boris Sanchez asked, “I want to get your response to what the government is alleging here. They are accusing Harvard of harboring antisemitism, of lacking a diversity of viewpoints, and of protecting students who are hostile to American values. How do you respond to those accusations?”

Johnson responded, “Well, I think the accusations are baseless. To the extent that Harvard is an institution in the world that we live in, the world that we live in is full of bias. It’s full of bigotry. It’s full of discrimination of all kinds. Harvard is not immune to conflicts over a wide variety of ideas about what constitutes fair and decent disagreement and what constitutes unfair, rude, uncivil, or bigoted speech. And we have to manage those disagreements just like any other complex institution. The idea that Harvard is harboring un-American values or that Harvard is unsafe for any particular body of students, Americans or international students, is simply untrue.”

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