Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) recently endorsed failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney to serve as Harvard University’s next president.
Fetterman, who graduated from Harvard University in 1999 with a Master of Public Policy degree, supported an op-ed in The Washington Post which stated that “Harvard is in an almighty mess. Let Mitt Romney clean it up.”
“As an alumnus of Harvard, and after this mad season of antisemitism at Colombia, I co-sign,” Fetterman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This former Governor of Massachusetts doesn’t need a paycheck, but Harvard and its academic peers needs to recalibrate from far-left orthodoxy.”
As an alumnus of Harvard, and after this mad season of antisemitism at Columbia, I co-sign.
This former Governor of Massachusetts doesn't need a paycheck, but Harvard and its academic peers needs to recalibrate from far-left orthodoxy. pic.twitter.com/eaT0F5VaiR
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) April 22, 2024
The writer of the op-ed, David Rosen, claimed that Romney would use his “unique bridge-building character” to break apart Harvard’s “age of toxic polarization.”
“As we saw with the disastrous congressional testimony of then-President Claudine Gay, leadership matters,” Rosen wrote. “The university president must be the flag-bearer of our values.”
“There is no doubt that there are other Americans of similar standing and stature, but Romney’s unique bridge-building character is precisely what Harvard needs in an age of toxic polarization,” he added.
“A Harvard alumnus, he is an eloquent and experienced administrator who has consistently demonstrated his political independence in defense of what is right, rather than what is expedient,” Rosen continued.
One America News (OAN) pointed out that Harvard University has not had a permanent president since December 2023. The former president of the school, Claudine Gay, resigned from the position following charges that she committed plagiarism and questions surrounding her unwillingness to condemn antisemitism on campus.
Gay was subjected to mounting criticism over her performance in a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing, where she declined to say whether antisemitic language violated Harvard University’s code of conduct.
Following Gay’s resignation, Harvard University’s veteran provost, Jewish physician and economist Alan Garber, is temporarily serving as president, having taken office on Jan. 2, 2024.
Like Fetterman, Romney is an alum of Harvard University, having graduated in 1975 with a Juris Doctor degree.
Rosen’s recommendation that Romney serve as president of Harvard University comes after the Utah senator announced he would not seek a second term in Congress.
