Fallout from the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, which left five people dead, reached Harvardâs Institute of Politics the following week. On Jan. 12, the bipartisan organization dismissed U.S. Representative Elise M. Stefanik â06 (R-N.Y.) from its top leadership committee for her baseless claims of voter fraud.
The IOPâs move received an array of responses â including praise and criticism. Though Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf stated the decision was nonpartisan, it nonetheless surfaced questions about the commitment of the organization â and Harvard more broadly â to bipartisanship: with Stefanikâs removal, the Republican minority on the Senior Advisory Committee becomes even smaller.