Blood Money?
Harvard's decision to accept $20 million from a Saudi prince is stirring up controversy; the Crimson reports that New York congressman Anthony Weiner has written a letter to Lawrence Summers protesting Harvard's action.
From the Crimson:
Weiner said in a press release issued Dec. 13 that American universities should not accept gifts from the Saudi royals, who “have a record of funding terrorist organizations.” “August institutions like Harvard University and Georgetown University should not accept funding from a family that bankrolls terrorist organizations,” he wrote to Summers. “Their hands should be clean of any relationship with individuals associated with terrorism.” A few thoughts.
First, this situation has the potential to blow up into a media feeding frenzy, if Bill O'Reilly, et cetera, latch onto it.
Second, there are really two questions here.
Are the allegations true? And if they are, should Harvard turn down the money?
I can't speak to whether this particular Saudi has donated money to Hamas, etc—which is the question at hand,
not whether Saudi princes in general have donated money to Hamas.
But if he has, should Harvard take the money nonetheless? Isn't it better for him to give money to Harvard than to terrorists? Shouldn't Harvard use the money to promote understanding and knowledge?
I think there's a credible argument that Harvard should take the money.
Problem is that Larry Summers has criticized people for giving money to Hamas before: 2002 Commencement speaker Zayed Yasin. (And the charge wasn't even accurate.)
He's also run into this tension of the dirty origins of Middle Eastern money before, when Sheik Zayed of the United Arab Emirates wanted to endow a professorship at the Harvard Divinity School. That didn't work out so well for Harvard, which ultimately returned the money.
I'm fascinated by this issue, as it touches upon a number of very important issues for Harvard: the conflicts of globalization and the university, the changing role of Harvard in the world, the desire to find new and deep, deep-pocketed donors, and last but far from least, the question of the university's moral role in the world. These are not easy issues, and I hope they can be civilly debated in the days ahead.
