Dem
47
GOP
53
Someone in the Trump administration sent Harvard a letter basically demanding that it turn over control of the university to the administration. Harvard refused. Then Trump upped the ante. If Harvard refused to obey him, he would strip its tax-exempt status from it, which would cause huge financial problems for the university. It is interesting to note that Trump always thinks in terms of money. When he wants to punish someone or something, it almost always involves money. The only exception is people who don't have much money, like immigrants.
Could Trump take away Harvard's tax-exempt status? In the end, it will be up to John Roberts. Everything is up to either Elon Musk or John Roberts. But if Trump orders the IRS to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status, that could set off a chain of events that he might not like. There is some precedent for that.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 barred federal funds to segregated institutions, including universities. In 1970, the IRS revised its regulations to determine that private schools practicing racial discrimination were not entitled to a tax exemption. One of its targets was Bob Jones University, an evangelical university in South Carolina, which banned interracial dating and admitted Black students only if they were married to other Black people. This reduced the opportunities for interracial dating (but increased the opportunities for interracial extramarital affairs).
BJU objected and this led to a long court battle. The government kept up its case across the Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations. It wasn't a partisan battle. In 1983, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to uphold the IRS' decision to strip BJU of its tax-exempt status. BJU didn't give in. It paid $1 million in back taxes but didn't change its policies until 2000.
Richard Viguerie, a leading conservative fundraiser and activist, described the case and the decision as: "It kicked the sleeping dog." It galvanized the religious right. Before that, they were interested in saving souls. After that, they got into politics.
What happened was that by using tax exemption as a cudgel, the IRS turned a ragtag collection of evangelicals and conservative Catholics into a serious movement that is still around today. The movement used "government overreach" as a unifying cry and morphed into a powerful political force.
Could this happen again? There is a large group of people who care about medical and scientific research. The elite universities have many alumni now in powerful positions. There are many people who effectively use the services the elite universities provide. Harvard alone is affiliated with 15 hospitals and research institutes. The patients who use those hospitals are aware that they are getting good treatment due to the Harvard connection. Harvard also provides 7,000 units of affordable housing, operates free legal and health clinics, and partners with many nonprofits. Those people will not be happy to see Harvard go down the drain. The city of Cambridge is well aware of the employment Harvard creates—at all levels, down to food-service workers and janitors. Other universities have similar networks and constituencies, even the big state universities. If Trump decides he wants to be known as the president who opposes universities, it might galvanize an opposition that is already a lot more powerful than BJU ever was. (V)