Vance Slams Harvard as 'North Korea' of Academia in Ideological Diversity Row

Vice President JD Vance didn’t mince words at the American Compass gala in Washington, likening Harvard University’s intellectual climate to North Korea over its alleged lack of ideological diversity. Vance speculated—without hard data—that roughly 95% of Harvard’s faculty backed Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, painting the institution as a near-totalitarian echo chamber. He argued that such lopsided political alignment signals a stifled exchange of ideas, far from the vibrant debate expected of a leading university.

The Trump administration has been locked in a heated clash with Harvard, pushing for reforms to address reported antisemitism on campus since October 2023. Beyond tackling bias, the administration demands changes to Harvard’s governance and admissions, including scrapping all DEI programs and auditing campus viewpoints. Harvard’s President Alan Garber fired back, calling these demands unconstitutional and rejecting them outright in an April letter, arguing they infringe on academic freedom.

The stakes are high: the administration has already frozen $3.2 billion in grants and contracts and now threatens to cut an additional $100 million in federal funding. This financial pressure underscores a broader battle over the role of ideology in higher education, with Harvard standing firm against what it sees as overreach.