Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg jumped into the fight over Harvard University’s future on Friday, the latest prominent business leader to do so at a moment of turmoil for the elite university.
Washington
Mark Zuckerberg joins struggle over Harvard’s future
Lessin has said his candidacy is about restoring excellence to a university that he believes has lost its way. He has accused the previous administration of failing to respond to rising antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Gaza war.
During Friday’s event, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan stayed away from hot-button topics such as race and the ouster earlier this month of Claudine Gay, Harvard’s first Black president. But their presence at an event backing a candidate who criticized Gay and Harvard’s handling of campus speech issues shows how wealthy donors are increasingly willing to use their clout to shape the school. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a Harvard donor who led the charge to oust Gay, has proposed his own slate of candidates for the Board of Overseers.
“Harvard has the unique ability to shape the whole field of higher education, which is obviously important to training whole generations of people,” Zuckerberg said. “Sam is the type of person I would want to be involved in governing Harvard.”
Lessin, Ackman and others are part of a cohort of business leaders who say they’re concerned about the politicization of campus life, diversity initiatives that they say have gone too far, and what they call a double standard around free speech — claiming that antisemitic speech was not condemned strongly enough, especially compared with the school’s response to other events such as the killing of George Floyd. These concerns, along with allegations of plagiarism, led to Gay’s ouster after just a few months in office.
Amid campus tensions that arose amid the Israel-Gaza war, some students, alumni, donors and others — including Lessin — thought her responses were too late and too tepid.
The situation worsened in December when a U.S. House committee grilled Gay, along with the presidents of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, over antisemitism on their campuses. In tense exchanges with lawmakers, Gay and the other presidents, repeatedly declined to say that calling for the genocide of Jews on campus would violate the school’s policies.
Gay’s answers were viewed by many as unfeeling and tone-deaf, and although she later apologized, political leaders, major donors and others called for her resignation.
Allegations of plagiarism in her scholarly work surfaced and were amplified by her critics, and in early January, she resigned.
The school’s provost and chief academic officer, Alan M. Garber, was named interim president.
Some alumni, politicians and others also posted scathing remarks on social media about the highly opaque Harvard Corporation — the university’s most powerful governing board, which is formally named the President and Fellows of Harvard College — its selection of Gay and handling of the recent controversies. Some called for the Corporation’s senior fellow, Penny Pritzker, to resign. And some alumni launched campaigns for a seat on another university governing body, the Board of Overseers.
Ackman is also backing his own slate of candidates for the board of overseers.
Lessin is aiming to get 3,300 write-in nominations from Harvard alumni for the 2024 Spring Overseers ballot by Jan. 31.
Washington
Washington National Opera cuts ties with the Kennedy Center after longstanding partnership | CNN Politics
The Washington National Opera on Friday announced it is parting ways with the Kennedy Center after more than a decade with the arts institution.
“Today, the Washington National Opera announced its decision to seek an amicable early termination of its affiliation agreement with the Kennedy Center and resume operations as a fully independent nonprofit entity,” the opera said in a statement.
The decoupling marks another high-profile withdrawal since President Donald Trump and his newly installed board of trustees instituted broad thematic and cosmetic changes to the building, including renaming the facility “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
The opera said it plans to “reduce its spring season and relocate performances to new venues.”
A source familiar with the dynamic told CNN the decision to part ways was made by the opera’s board and its leadership, and that the decision was not mutual.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center said in a statement, “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with the WNO due to a financially challenging relationship. We believe this represents the best path forward for both organizations and enables us to make responsible choices that support the financial stability and long-term future of the Trump Kennedy Center.”
Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell, who was appointed by Trump’s hand-picked board, said on X, “Having an exclusive relationship has been extremely expensive and limiting in choice and variety.”
Grenell added, “Having an exclusive Opera was just not financially smart. And our patrons clearly wanted a refresh.”
Since taking the reins at the center, Grenell has cut existing staff, hired political allies and mandated a “break-even policy” for every performance.
The opera said the new policy was a factor in its decision to leave the center.
“The Center’s new business model requires productions to be fully funded in advance—a requirement incompatible with opera operations,” the opera said.
Francesca Zambello, the opera’s artistic director, said she is “deeply saddened to leave The Kennedy Center.”
“In the coming years, as we explore new venues and new ways of performing, WNO remains committed to its mission and artistic vision,” she said.
The New York Times first reported the opera’s departure.
Founded in 1956 as the “Opera Society of Washington,” the group has performed across the district, taking permanent residency in the Kennedy Center in 2011.
The performing arts center has been hit with a string of abrupt cancellations from artists in recent weeks including the jazz group The Cookers and New York City-based dance company Doug Varone and Dancers who canceled their performances after Trump’s name was added to the center – a living memorial for assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
The American College Theater Festival voted to suspend its relationship with the Kennedy Center, calling the affiliation “no longer viable” and citing concerns over a misalignment of the group’s values.
American banjo player Béla Fleck withdrew his upcoming performance with the National Symphony Orchestra, saying that performing at the center has become “charged and political.”
The Brentano String Quartet, who canceled their February 1 performance at the Kennedy Center, said they will “regretfully forego performing there.”
CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center on the additional cancellations.
The opera said, “The Board and management of the company wish the Center well in its own future endeavors.”
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Nicky Robertson contributed to this report.
Washington
Andre Washington’s 20 points help Eastern Illinois take down Tennessee Tech 71-61
CHARLESTON, Ill. (AP) — Andre Washington had 20 points in Eastern Illinois’ 71-61 victory over Tennessee Tech on Thursday.
Washington shot 8 for 13, including 4 for 6 from beyond the arc for the Panthers (5-10, 2-3 Ohio Valley Conference). Meechie White added 13 points and four steals. Kooper Jacobi finished with 11 points and added seven rebounds.
The Golden Eagles (6-10, 1-4) were led in scoring by Jah’Kim Payne, who finished with 11 points. Tennessee Tech also got 10 points from Mekhi Turner.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Washington
Stars defeat Capitals to end losing streak at 6 | NHL.com
Hintz scored into an empty net at 19:41 for the 4-1 final.
“Everybody played hard, did the right things, got pucks in deep, especially in the third period when we’re trying to close out a lead,” DeSmith said. “So, I thought top to bottom, first, second and third, we were really good.”
NOTES: The Stars swept the two-game season series (including a 1-0 win Oct. 28 in Dallas) and are 8-1-0 in their past nine games against the Capitals. … Duchene had the secondary assist on Steel’s goal, giving him 900 points (374 goals, 526 assists) in 1,157 NHL games. … Hintz has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in an eight-game point streak against Washington. He had a game-high 12 shots on goal. … Thompson has lost six of his past seven starts (1-5-1).
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