Harvard Stokes ‘Muslim Ban’ Hysteria

Liberals administrators at Harvard University aren’t taking news of President Donald Trump’s temporary pause on travel and migration from certain war-torn countries particularly well.

Harvard Business School Faculty Dean Nitin Nohria was so perturbed at the news he felt compelled to send an email which included copies of other emails about the issue that were sent to Harvard Business School and the wider Harvard community to HBS alumni.

“Let me also take this opportunity to note the anxieties and concerns prevalent among members of our community who are also members of the Islamic faith.”

“We are writing to share with you emails that have gone out to the HBS … and Harvard … campus communities concerning President Trump’s executive order restricting travel to the United States for citizens from seven selected countries and, specifically, targeting those of the Muslim faith,” Nohria said.

Nohria’s email illustrated perfectly the misplaced priorities of the liberal elite. “The dampening effects of such a ban have become clear very quickly: students (including a number with citizenship from the listed countries) are questioning their career prospects and wondering whether their families will be able to join them for Commencement, faculty are debating whether they should travel to conduct their research and teaching,” Nohria wrote.

To Nohria, the concerns of the few students possibly affected by Trump’s order are more important than making sure the country ensures dangerous people aren’t gaining access to it.

The first email Nohria decided to share with HBS alumni was authored by Nohria himself. “As a first-generation immigrant to America, I have been distressed by the recent executive order restricting (re)entry to the U.S. for citizens of certain countries that is creating so much anxiety and confusion about how the country will deal with the flow of people through its borders,” the email begins.

Of course, the Trump administration has no confusion whatsoever about how to deal with the flow of people through the nation’s borders. Decisions will be made with the interests of national security at the forefront — an entirely reasonable position that for whatever reason seems incomprehensible to Nohria and his peers.

The hysteria shown by the Harvard administrator also fails to note that only 109 individuals have been stopped so far as a result of the order. Those individuals were allowed to continue on their way after additional screening.

Roughly 300,000 people traveled into the country from abroad between Friday and today, which means Nohria is treating the inconveniencing of .03 percent of foreign travelers for national security purposes as a national emergency.

The second email was from the Harvard International Office. It effectively contained a promise from the office to do everything possible to obstruct the ban. “The HIO is working with offices and key stakeholders throughout the University to offer resources and support and to advocate for the international students and scholars across the University,” the email assured recipients.

All of these emails treat Trump’s order — which is merely to last for 90 days — as if it is a blanket permanent ban on any and all travelers from the seven affected countries. But the ban itself includes a crucial exemption, one that could arguably apply to long-term, peaceful green card holders and the students at HBS.

“Secretaries of State and Homeland Security may, on a case-by-case basis, and when in the national interest, issue visas or other immigration benefits to nationals of countries for which visas and benefits are otherwise blocked,” the executive order states.

In addition to a third email — from Harvard Global Support Services — Nohria’s message also linked to an astonishing email from Harvard President Drew Faust that emphasized Harvard’s commitment to globalization and framed the ban as an attack on Muslims.

“Our robust commitment to internationalism is not an incidental or dispensable accessory. It is integral to all we do, in the laboratory, in the classroom, in the conference hall, in the world,” Faust wrote.

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“Let me also take this opportunity to note the anxieties and concerns prevalent among members of our community who are also members of the Islamic faith … We must not and will not conflate people of a venerable faith with people predisposed to acts of terrorism and violence,” he said.

Apparently Faust believes the distinctive needs of some Muslims — reports indicated only 8 percent of the world’s Islamic population could be affected by the ban — are more important than the safety and security of the American people as a whole.

Faust also announced that, “recognizing the special concerns of the Muslims among us at this moment in our national life, I believe we must pursue more tangible ways to support their distinctive needs … I have initiated a search for Harvard’s first Muslim chaplain, who will serve full-time to provide guidance and support to members of the Islamic faith.”