In an unexpected political crossover, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has officially endorsed retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) to become the next president of Harvard University. This endorsement comes when Harvard is embroiled in controversy and leadership instability.
Fetterman graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 1999. The junior senator from Pennsylvania shared his support for Romney by reposting to X, formerly Twitter, a Washington Post op-ed written by American Jewish Congress President Daniel Rosen, which advocated for Romney’s candidacy to head America’s oldest university. “As an alumnus of Harvard, and after this mad season of antisemitism at Columbia, I co-sign,” Fetterman stated.
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 push for Romney follows several tumultuous months at Harvard that led to the resignation of former President Claudine Gay. Gay stepped down after a disastrous round of congressional testimony and ongoing allegations of academic fraud and plagiarism. Critics have pointed to a broader need for leadership that can recalibrate Harvard’s cultural and academic direction away from what some describe as a “far-left orthodoxy.”
Mitt Romney, a 1975 alumnus of both Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, is lauded for his “unique bridge-building character” in Rosen’s editorial. He wrote that Romney’s experience and political independence make him the “ideal candidate” to navigate Harvard through fundamental changes and administrative reforms to rehabilitate the school’s reputation.
Rosen 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 also pointed to the rampant antisemitism affecting Harvard and other Ivy League institutions in his endorsement of Romney: “I make this suggestion in the sincere and robust hope that he is someone who can navigate the university through painful but necessary reform and drive back the antisemitism that is tarnishing the institution’s credibility. As the grandson of Holocaust survivors and president of the American Jewish Congress, I find it devastating that Harvard has failed to vigorously address the unchecked antisemitism on campus.”
John Fetterman endorses Mitt Romney for president — of Harvard https://t.co/4zw4hGo4bD pic.twitter.com/pDva53GWr3
— New York Post (@nypost) April 22, 2024
The senator from Utah’s background as a former governor and business executive positions him as a strong candidate to lead an institution in need. Most America First Republicans and supporters of President Donald Trump are simply happy that Romney is not running for another six-year term in the Senate this year.
