We are Harvard alumni standing up for academic freedom at Harvard and beyond
Higher education and academic freedom are under assault
Harvard’s bold and principled risk in standing up for a free democratic society has already inspired other universities to do the same.
We hope you are moved to join the Crimson Courage community and to help us in our urgent defense of our alma mater and higher education across the nation. Please also consider an unrestricted donation of any amount to Harvard to signal that you support the university.
Coming Events
We hope to see you at these upcoming events featuring speakers from Crimson Courage:
October 23, 6-8:30 pm: Harvard Club of Boston
Inside Harvard: Strengthening Academic Freedom with Crimson Courage
Introduction with Crimson Courage communications co-chair Helen Fairman. Panel moderated by Crimson Courage Co-Chair Patty Nolan featuring Harvard professor and expert on authoritarianism Dr. Steve Levitsky and Professor Archon Fung, Director of the Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School.
More details and registration here.
October 30, 6-9 pm: Harvard Club of Georgia
Harvard and the Effort to Resist Political Interference in Higher Education, A Panel Discussion on Harvard's Efforts to Protect Academic Freedom
Event will be held at Georgia Tech. Zoom discussion with Representative Jamie Raskin AB ‘83, LLM ‘87.
Panel discussion with:
Tanya Washington (LLM '99) - Moderator
Evelyn Kim (Crimson Courage AB '95) - Timeline of events at Harvard and status of legal cases
Tom Rogers (Emory) - American Association of University Professors Litigation Against Federal Interference
Deron Boyles - (GSU) Foundations of Academic Freedom
Craig Goodmark (Goodmark Law Firm) - Summary and Charge
More details and registration here.
Join Our Community
By joining the grassroots Crimson Courage community, you gain opportunities to:
Support Harvard’s freedom from government interference;
Endorse academic freedom and freedom of speech;
Oppose federal efforts to suppress voices, censor vital scholarship, and diminish the presence of varied populations and viewpoints;
Improve on-campus communication and mutual respect among people from different backgrounds;
Collaborate with other universities and organizations in advocacy for independent higher education nationally; and
Add your voice to the dialogue surrounding issues of academic independence across the nation.
Support Crimson Courage by joining our email list, volunteering, and/or donating.
Complete the form linked below to volunteer for Crimson Courage.
Take Action
Sign the Petition Opposing the “Compact” Proposed to 9 Colleges & Universities
We at Crimson Courage are deeply concerned by the so-called “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” proposed to the University of Texas, University of Arizona, University of Virginia, University of Southern California, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown, Vanderbilt, and MIT. We support the American Association of University Professors and others’ response to this clear attempt to trade funding for an inappropriate set of politically partisan requirements.
If you or someone you know is an alum of any of the colleges and universities listed above, please join thousands of alums from these schools in signing the joint alumni petition to leadership of these institutions urging them not to sign away their academic freedom.
Sign the letter to Harvard leadership
Crimson Courage recently released a sign-on letter calling for Harvard to:
Uphold Harvard’s independence by rejecting the administration’s demands for monitoring or oversight of the university’s core functions—including governance, admissions, hiring, employment, research, speech, expression, and the university’s mission and values.
Reject political interference in institutional decision-making. Any Trump administration demands that violate the law, attempt to rewrite it, or extend beyond the specific legal issues originally raised must be rejected outright.
Protect students, faculty, researchers, and staff—especially those with international status—from intrusions on privacy, immigration retaliation, or threats to constitutionally protected rights and freedoms.
Safeguard academic integrity by ensuring that admissions, hiring, employment, and disciplinary decisions are not influenced by political viewpoint or punished for expressive activities disfavored by the government.
Establish direct, ongoing engagement with students, faculty, staff, and researchers on any proposed changes affecting our community—ensuring transparency, consultation, and accountability in moments of crisis.
Refuse punitive financial penalties—including excessive fines—that do nothing to remedy actual harm and instead serve to punish, intimidate, or extort compliance.
Use Harvard’s financial and institutional resources to protect and honor the livelihoods and education of the students, staff, researchers, and faculty who make this university what it is.
Your signature is a signal of solidarity and resolve at a moment that matters deeply… for Harvard, for higher education, and for democracy. You do not have to be affiliated with Harvard to sign.
Past open letters to Harvard from Crimson Courage
On June 23, Crimson Courage sent a letter to the President and Fellows of Harvard University (President Garber, the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers), the Harvard Alumni Association, and the Deans of all 12 Harvard schools urging them to resist compromising our values or integrity in any sort of deal with the federal government.
On July 10, The Harvard Crimson reported that the diversity office at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (which includes Harvard College) had been “replaced” amid a “DEI purge”. Also shuttered were the Harvard College Women’s Center, Office for BGLTQ Student Life, and Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. Crimson Courage sent a letter to President Alan Garber, The Harvard Corporation, and the Overseers stating our deep concerns about these capitulations to the unreasonable demands of the federal government.
June 27 Statement on the resignation of UVA President James E. Ryan
We at Crimson Courage are saddened and deeply concerned by the resignation of University of Virginia’s president James E. Ryan under coercive pressure from both the Department of Justice and the university’s own Board of Directors.
Dr. Ryan’s forced resignation is another step toward the control of higher education. It’s clear the federal administration will continue to use the leverage of funding to chill academic freedom, freedom of speech and institutional governance. Ryan’s resignation is a clarion call not only for Harvard, but for all universities to stand together against government interference and to fight for academic autonomy, free scientific inquiry and democracy in higher education.
Crimson Courage News
Crimson Courage Co-Chairs Pen Op-Ed in U.S. News & World Report
Co-Chairs Patty Nolan and Miles Rapoport placed in op-ed in U.S. News on October 3. It reads in part:
“We believe that as Harvard negotiates with the government, it must stand firm in upholding academic freedom and not allow the government to have any hand in admissions, hiring, promotions, disciplinary procedures or governance. Any potential deal must reject federal monitoring, oversight and interference in Harvard’s core functions, including what is taught, how and by whom. Harvard must protect students, faculty, researchers and staff – including international citizens. Last, but also crucial, any deal must not include extortionary payments to the government to unlock federal grants.
Why are we so concerned about laying out the terms of an acceptable potential deal? Because we know that the Trump administration has sought – with some success – influence and oversight of admissions, hiring, disciplinary procedures, protest rules, athletics and even academic departments at some of the nation’s leading institutions.”
Click here to read the whole op-ed (note: paywall)
Harvard Wins a Decisive Victory in Lawsuit
Crimson Courage, the Harvard grass-roots alumni group, applauds US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs’ summary judgement against the cancellation of $2.7 billion of research grants to Harvard.
According to Crimson Courage’s legal adviser, Anurima Bhargava, “This is an unabashed win. This win is not only for academic freedom and civil liberties at Harvard, but also a testament to the courage of the students, faculty, employees and alumni who have spoken truth to power on the behalf of higher education, human rights and civil society.”
In the words of Judge Burroughs, “Now it is the job of the courts to similarly step up, to act to safeguard academic freedom and freedom of speech as required by the Constitution, and to ensure that important research is not improperly subjected to arbitrary and procedurally infirm grant terminations, even if doing so risks the wrath of a government committed to its agenda no matter the cost.”
Academic freedom is not transactional: it is the first principle for free inquiry, civil discourse and the preservation of democracy. We will continue the fight for our constitutional rights for students, faculty, workers and all of society. The battle is just beginning.
More than 12,000 Harvard Alumni Sign Historic Amicus Brief In Support Of Academic Freedom and Institutional Independence
The largest known alumni brief from a single university in American history unites Harvard alumni from all 50 states and around the world, with signatories from every graduating class from the Class of 1950 to the Class of 2025.
In a historic show of solidarity, more than 12,000 Harvard alumni from all 50 U.S. states and countries around the world have submitted an amicus curiae brief in support of Harvard in President and Fellows of Harvard College v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, now pending before Judge Allison Burroughs in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The lawsuit challenges the Trump Administration’s decision to withhold $2.2 billion in funding as part of its escalating and unlawful campaign of coercion and retaliation against Harvard (Harvard's legal complaint can be found here.).
The amicus brief—drafted by attorneys who are Harvard alumni—is an unprecedented instance of individual Harvard alumni taking legal action together, and includes alumni from all of Harvard’s degree-granting schools. Alumni - across generations, professions, political affiliations, geographies, and backgrounds - speak to their shared commitment to truth, service, academic independence and the central place of education in American life.
The amicus brief was open for signature by Harvard degree holders from any school or department in the university, irrespective of nationality or citizenship.
Although the deadline to sign the amicus brief for the court filing has passed, alumni can still sign to indicate support for Harvard’s legal case. Sign here.
Donate to Support Crimson Courage
Your financial support enables us to keep fighting for academic freedom at Harvard and across the country. Thank you for clicking below to make a tax-deductible donation to Crimson Courage.