Does Harvard Have an Academic Freedom Problem?

05/26/23 • 19 min

From The Harvard Crimson: some would say Harvard has an academic freedom problem. That superstar professors censor themselves for fear of blowback, and that the world’s sharpest students are afraid to debate ideas.

But others disagree. This week on The Harvard Crimson’s Newstalk, Rahem D. Hamid '25 and J. Sellers Hill ’25 join host Frank S. Zhou ’26 to discuss the misunderstandings and dilemmas at the heart of Harvard's dance with free speech. What is the state of academic freedom at Harvard, today?

Mosaic news clips in this episode are excerpted from MSNBC, FOX News, and TVO today.

Mosaic news clips in this episode are excerpted from MSNBC, FOX News, and TVO today.

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The Harvard Alumni Who Run Massachusetts

From The Harvard Crimson: Massachusetts governors Mitt Romney, Deval L. Patrick ’78, Charlie D. Baker ’79, and Maura T. Healey ’92 don’t share a party, vision, or even home state. But the four most recent governors of Massachusetts do have one thing in common: a Harvard diploma.

This week on The Harvard Crimson’s Newstalk, Sally E. Edwards ’26 and Jack R. Trapanick ’26 join host Frank Zhou ’26 to discuss the Harvard alumni who run Massachusetts. What happens when key decision-makers have to make complicated decisions between conflicting parties — and one of them is the school they once called home?

Next Episode

Harvard's Denaming Dilemma

From The Harvard Crimson: Harvard sophomore Ricky R. Razon IV ’25 recalls his grandmother living off a highway named after Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederacy.

At Harvard, he's found buildings and institutions with names intertwined with fraught histories. But, those names happen also to be some of the most memorable names of alumni and students' time at Harvard. This week on Newstalk, Nia L. Orakwue '25 and Natalie K Bandura '26 join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss how Harvard navigates its denaming dilemma.