Harvard Must Resist Trump’s War on Transgender Students

In the face of an unprecedented political offensive against its students, Harvard has been eerily quiet.

Last week, Harvard University Health Services indefinitely postponed a panel on LGBTQ+ healthcare. Two days earlier, Harvard Athletics removed its transgender inclusion policy from its website.

From attacks on DEI to slashing cuts to lifesaving medical research, Harvard is facing an all out assault from the Oval Office. There’s no denying that the University has a delicate balance to strike between acquiescing to executive action and holding true to its values. But when it comes to attacks on students — especially vulnerable ones — one thing is for sure: Harvard can do better than quietly comply.

The University has a lot to lose. Around $686 million in federal funding and already-meager public support mean Harvard can hardly afford to defy the Trump administration at every turn. Meekly obeying the White House’s efforts to attack a vulnerable minority like transgender people might be a politically expedient choice for Harvard to make.

But that wouldn’t make it the right one.

The Trump administration is in the midst of an effort to legislate transgender people out of public life. From attempts to revoke federal funding for gender-affirming care to banning transgender people from the military, the right is waging war against their newest political scapegoat.

Indeed, look no further than the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s recent ban on transgender athletes — of whom there are apparently fewer than 10 — for evidence that Trump’s attacks on the transgender community aren’t leveled to address a widespread crisis in athletics, but to target a besieged minority group.

Against that backdrop, Harvard’s choice to cancel a panel on LGBTQ+ healthcare and remove its transgender athlete inclusion policy looks much darker. Amidst a noxious effort to erase trans people from public consciousness, our University must take every lawful step not to join in.

Harvard doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel to respond to these attacks. When protections for transgender students were removed from Title IX last month, the University rightly preserved existing policy by embedding protections in its Interim Other Sexual Misconduct Policy. Creative solutions like this one allow the University to uphold protections while maintaining compliance with the law. Harvard ought to proactively reach out to LGBTQ+ students in order to meet their needs in the next four years.

Beyond private policy changes, Harvard shouldn’t shy away from making its case publicly in court. This week, 13 universities sued the Trump administration over dangerous NIH funding caps — Harvard was not among them. Now, facing lawsuits for allowing transgender athletes to compete in NCAA competitions, Harvard must do better than take the path of least resistance. Institutional voice policies can’t be a muzzle when student safety is at stake.

We understand the University’s concerns about losing access to necessary federal funding. But despite Harvard’s ongoing public posture of preemptive compliance, Trump’s attacks show no signs of abating.

Harvard can’t expect to win every political battle. But the surest way to lose is by surrendering in advance.

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

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