Common Sense and Realism

By Lupinetta @Adobe Stock

Protecting Jewish Students

When the great 19th-century historian visited Harvard in 1853, Lord Acton was a champion of liberty. Acton considered Harvard to be an institute of common sense and realism. Acton also warned of the dangers of concentrated power.

Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, and Francis Hutcheson, common-sense realist philosophers, fundamentally shaped the thinking of America’s Founders and provided the foundation for teaching and learning in American colleges from the time of Acton’s visit and beyond.

When Lord Acton visited Harvard in 1853, America had become the real home of common sense, realism, and the center of its continued development, explains Robert Curry in Real Clear Education.

James McCosh, president of Princeton from 1868 to 1888, is a prime example of this trend. McCosh published prolifically, was admired for his clear and readable style, and was one of many American thinkers who kept common sense realism strong in the nineteenth century.

Speaking of common sense, why is President Trump’s inclination to trample academic freedom and 1^st Amendment rights? Should this administration be telling private universities whom they can hire and what they can teach?

Not Doing Enough

Jason L. Riley reports what Americans already suspect. Exacerbating President Donald Trump’s agitation are failures at Harvard and other elite institutions to protect on their campuses Jewish students who were being harassed and intimidated by anti-Israel demonstrators. Exacerbating presidential distress is the leftward tilt of academia, “where social-justice advocacy is dominant and competing perspectives are discouraged and seldom engaged.”

Mr. Trump’s recent move to bar Harvard from enrolling foreign students is as shortsighted and counterproductive as his effort to disrupt research projects. Citing a need to protect Jewish students, the Department of Homeland Security announced last week that Harvard is losing its certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows international students to attend U.S. colleges.

“Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a press release.

A federal judge issued a restraining order to halt the administration’s foreign-student ban. For anyone who cares about higher education, the hope is that the White House will drop the issue.

Mr. Trump accuses Harvard of withholding the names of its international students. “They refuse to tell us who the people are,” he told reporters. What isn’t mentioned is that the federal government already has that information.

As the Harvard Crimson explained, schools that accept students on foreign visas “report extensive records to the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System database, including names, places of birth, and countries of origin.” The Trump administration wants additional information on foreign students, including protest activities, but Harvard says that goes beyond what the law requires and raises privacy concerns.

President Trump brags about his crackdown on illegal immigration, for which he deserves high praise for fulfilling his campaign promise to restore order on the southern border, continues Mr. Riley.

The president also complains, however, about companies that hire foreign nationals who are here lawfully, suggesting that he has a problem with immigrant workers regardless of their legal status.

By way of Harvard and other elite schools, places such as Mumbai and Beijing supply the talent that keeps our high-tech sector competitive.

These are among the best minds in the world, and they want to live and work in America. They boost employment and productivity. They generate wealth. Nothing is gained by forcing our leading universities to turn them away.