Is the President really going to drive us all to the defense of Harvard? Bringing the country together, one backwards way after another. I'll follow you to the barricades, John.
Thank you John. It is important to remind donors, organizations, and institutions why the US tax code supports tax exemptions. Doing so is the bedrock of our civil society
I credit you for bringing up the Bob Jones University case - no one else seems to be focusing on that landmark decision. However, it is still the law of the land unless and until overturned. Harvard’s 501(c)(3) status is at serious risk if it can be shown that it it engages in racial discrimination in its admissions or hiring practices. I expect the Administration’s next move will be to investigate this.
I appreciate your depth on this, and I look forward to reviewing the case law following Bob Jones. But, it seems that the DoJ and IRS can use that case, the recent SCOTUS case on discrimination in admissions, and general federal civil rights law as predicates to investigate a university’s practices, both regarding possible civil rights violations and 501(c)(3) status. There has been chatter that some universities will try to find ways to work around the SCOTUS case on racial discrimination. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Administration use a disparate impact analysis of universities’ hiring and admissions results to prove they are discriminatory.
Harvard's admissions policies aimed at achieving racial and ethnic balance were abandoned in response to SCOTUS decision against that policy a couple of years ago. Ironically, the Court's decision and Harvard's response may save Harvard from charges of racial disctimination.
One point in my post to emphasize in light of this thread: No court has expanded Bob Jones to revoke tax-exemption on grounds other than racial discrimination against African Americans in education. Bob Jones has been so narrowly construed that its logic has not extended even to other forms of race-based discrimination in education, see, e.g., Doe v. Kamehameha Schs./Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, 470 F.3d 827, 829 (9th Cir. 2006) (en banc) (upholding private school’s Hawaiian-only admissions policy against a § 1981 challenge).
Feel free to disagree, but in my opinion, the various institutions that do not receive Federal funding, such as Hillsdale, Christendom, Patrick Henry, the Thomas Aquinas Colleges, U of Dallas, etc. contribute more to pluralism and intellectual diversity in American intellectual life than any of the dime-a-dozen federally funded institutions. It would be good for academic freedom at universities if they were to get off of Federal funding, as it would remove the possibility that the government could leverage it to force them to take various positions.
I believe that all of the institutions you've listed are federally tax-exempt and would face crippling financial consequences were they to lose that exemption. Separately, I would not so loosely characterize other institutions that receive other forms of federal funding as "dime-a-dozen." Tuskegee is quite different from WashU which is quite different from West Point (and so forth).
Is the President really going to drive us all to the defense of Harvard? Bringing the country together, one backwards way after another. I'll follow you to the barricades, John.
Thank you John. It is important to remind donors, organizations, and institutions why the US tax code supports tax exemptions. Doing so is the bedrock of our civil society
Thanks for continuing to make this argument, John. It's very important.
I credit you for bringing up the Bob Jones University case - no one else seems to be focusing on that landmark decision. However, it is still the law of the land unless and until overturned. Harvard’s 501(c)(3) status is at serious risk if it can be shown that it it engages in racial discrimination in its admissions or hiring practices. I expect the Administration’s next move will be to investigate this.
I appreciate your depth on this, and I look forward to reviewing the case law following Bob Jones. But, it seems that the DoJ and IRS can use that case, the recent SCOTUS case on discrimination in admissions, and general federal civil rights law as predicates to investigate a university’s practices, both regarding possible civil rights violations and 501(c)(3) status. There has been chatter that some universities will try to find ways to work around the SCOTUS case on racial discrimination. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Administration use a disparate impact analysis of universities’ hiring and admissions results to prove they are discriminatory.
Harvard's admissions policies aimed at achieving racial and ethnic balance were abandoned in response to SCOTUS decision against that policy a couple of years ago. Ironically, the Court's decision and Harvard's response may save Harvard from charges of racial disctimination.
One point in my post to emphasize in light of this thread: No court has expanded Bob Jones to revoke tax-exemption on grounds other than racial discrimination against African Americans in education. Bob Jones has been so narrowly construed that its logic has not extended even to other forms of race-based discrimination in education, see, e.g., Doe v. Kamehameha Schs./Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, 470 F.3d 827, 829 (9th Cir. 2006) (en banc) (upholding private school’s Hawaiian-only admissions policy against a § 1981 challenge).
Thanks, that was my next question!
Feel free to disagree, but in my opinion, the various institutions that do not receive Federal funding, such as Hillsdale, Christendom, Patrick Henry, the Thomas Aquinas Colleges, U of Dallas, etc. contribute more to pluralism and intellectual diversity in American intellectual life than any of the dime-a-dozen federally funded institutions. It would be good for academic freedom at universities if they were to get off of Federal funding, as it would remove the possibility that the government could leverage it to force them to take various positions.
I believe that all of the institutions you've listed are federally tax-exempt and would face crippling financial consequences were they to lose that exemption. Separately, I would not so loosely characterize other institutions that receive other forms of federal funding as "dime-a-dozen." Tuskegee is quite different from WashU which is quite different from West Point (and so forth).