My feelings about Harvard are complicated. But when I think about how I want my alma mater to conduct itself right now, that’s simple.

I hope Harvard will spend down every damn penny of its endowed billions rather than let the Trump administration break them, if that’s what it takes. There is no rainier day ahead, no future of greater urgency to plan for in this nation.

If Harvard goes broke doing its part in the fight for a country where others will be able to rebuild new institutions dedicated to truth – Veritas – then our future might turn out to be more just than our past.

But. If Harvard ultimately chooses to survive by stepping aside and allowing the fascist future that the Trump administration is attempting to impose, there will be nothing left of it that’s worth saving. Nothing left but big piles of money.

And yeah, I know how endowments work; I know there’s limitations on how those funds are supposed to be spent. I also know that there’s supposed to be limitations on our government’s powers, too, but apparently rules don’t count anymore, so. And I know that Harvard knows some really f*cking good lawyers.

I could say the same for just about every philanthropic foundation right now, too. If you’re sitting on dollars that are meant to advance truth and justice in perpetuity… you better spend ‘em now on creating a future where others can rise to carry on your work. That’s your true path to impact that lasts forever, not this looming dead end for our national dreams.

Don’t just take it from me. This is Gandalf’s advice, remember?

“We must walk open-eyed into that trap, with courage, but small hope for ourselves. For, my lords, it may well prove that we ourselves shall perish utterly in a black battle far from the living lands; so that even if Barad-dur be thrown down, we shall not live to see a new age. But this, I deem, is our duty. And better so than to perish nonetheless – as we surely shall, if we sit here – and know as we die that no new age shall be.”

Onwards, friends. ❤️