Universities face pressure to vet ex-Trump officials before hiring them Marisa Iati, Lauren Lumpkin Richard Grenell, a former Trump administration official, speaks to reporters at the White House in September. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post) There is a long tradition of political appointees moving into academia former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice returned to Stanford University as a professor, ex-CIA director Robert Gates was a dean and then president at Texas A&M University, and former secretary of health and human services Sylvia Mathews Burwell is president of American University. But in recent months, some students and faculty have argued colleges should apply more scrutiny to former Trump officials looking to make similar transitions.
An online petition circulated after the Capitol insurrection asking Harvard officials to revoke degrees from prominent Republicans. What s False What s Undetermined
The credibility of the petition, which existed as a Google form, and its creators motivation were unknown.
Origin
In mid-January 2021, following the U.S. Capitol riot by supporters of President Donald Trump, Snopes readers contacted us to investigate reports that Harvard University administrators were considering a request to revoke degrees from alumni who spread misinformation about the 2020 presidential election that precipitated the deadly attack.
Republicans who have received post-undergraduate degrees from Harvard and spread false claims about Joe Biden’s presidential win include White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, as well as Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Dan Crenshaw from Texas. A Jan. 15 article by TheBlaze, a conservative media outlet, alleged:
By Michael W. Chapman | January 15, 2021 | 11:17am EST
(Getty Images)
Graduate students and alumni of the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) have launched a campaign and petition to revoke the degrees earned by Harvard alumni who worked in the Trump administration and Harvard grads in Congress who support the president. Harvard must revoke the degrees of alumni whose incendiary language and subversion of democratic processes rooted in a history of white supremacist voter suppression incited the violent insurrection on January 6, reads the petition, which is headlined Revoke Their Degrees.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who earned his law degree at Harvard University. (Getty Images)
Following last year’s efforts to ban Trump Administration officials from speaking on campus, Harvard University students are now circulating a petition that calls for revoking degrees from Trump supporters and aides who attended the elite Ivy League institution, FOX Business has learned.
By Michael W. Chapman | January 15, 2021 | 11:17am EST
(Getty Images)
Graduate students and alumni of the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) have launched a campaign and petition to revoke the degrees earned by Harvard alumni who worked in the Trump administration and Harvard grads in Congress who support the president. Harvard must revoke the degrees of alumni whose incendiary language and subversion of democratic processes rooted in a history of white supremacist voter suppression incited the violent insurrection on January 6, reads the petition, which is headlined Revoke Their Degrees.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who earned his law degree at Harvard University. (Getty Images)