Harvard’s Donors Should Know Campus Speech Still Isn’t Free

Earlier this month, the Harvard Crimson released data indicating that Harvard received $151 million less in donations in fiscal year 2024 than in the previous year, making it the university’s worst year for donations since 2015. Gifts to the endowment, which support programs over time, as opposed to “current-use gifts” for immediate expenditures, dropped even more severely. It’s no wonder why — as the Crimson noted, several prominent donors (and scores of smaller ones) paused their giving in response to the university’s fumbling attempt to respond to antisemitic student and faculty protests.

According to President Alan Garber, the university expects donations to improve in the coming year; only time will tell whether this is wishful thinking. Certainly, things are calmer in Cambridge this year than they were last spring, and this may be enough for our donors. But it shouldn’t be. Neither student culture nor university policies have been reformed enough to justify increased optimism for Harvard’s future.

About the Author

Alexander Hughes

Alexander Hughes, a student at Harvard University, is a former National Review summer intern.

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Earlier this month, the Harvard Crimson released data indicating that Harvard received $151 million less in donations in fiscal year 2024 than in the previous year, making it the university’s worst year for donations since 2015. Gifts to the endowment, which support programs over time, as opposed to “current-use gifts” for immediate expenditures, dropped even more severely. It’s no wonder why — as the Crimson noted, several prominent donors (and scores of smaller ones) paused their giving in response to the university’s fumbling attempt to respond to antisemitic student and faculty protests.

According to President Alan Garber, the university expects donations to improve in the coming year; only time will tell whether this is wishful thinking. Certainly, things are calmer in Cambridge this year than they were last spring, and this may be enough for our donors. But it shouldn’t be. Neither student culture nor university policies have been reformed enough to justify increased optimism for Harvard’s future.