Dear President Bacow and Harvard University Deans and Leadership,

After every presidential election, Harvard becomes a temporary home for officials from the outgoing administration. These bipartisan government connections allow the school to serve its student community better and to maintain ties, influence, and status with any administration.

We write to you now, in advance of the conclusion of the Trump administration, extremely concerned about the impact of the actions of this administration on fundamental democratic institutions. Most notably, in actively undermining faith in the electoral process and in refusing to concede the 2020 election, the Trump administration has trampled norms of free and fair elections and peaceful transfer of power that have defined our republic for over two centuries. These norms are crucial to the global well-being of democratic institutions. A complete disregard for the truth is a defining feature of many decisions made by this administration. That alone should be enough to draw a line.

We hold a variety of political views, but these actions alarm all of us invested in the future of democracy in the United States and abroad. We worry that in following tradition and inviting members of the Trump administration to Harvard, the school would be legitimizing this subversion of democratic principles that up to now had been universally accepted by both political parties. That is why today we are asking you to set up a system of accountability for high-level political appointees and Trump administration consultants before they are invited as fellows or to teach or speak on campus. These accountability guidelines should be publicly shared with students by the end of the calendar year.

Harvard should stand firm with its stated commitments to a just Harvard and a just world, to free and honest inquiry in the unfettered pursuit of truth, the right to vote, a free and independent press, checks and balances, the peaceful transfer of power, and the rule of law with equal justice for all. We believe that Trump administration officials who failed to live up to that standard have disqualified themselves from being hired by the school as faculty or fellows.

Part of ensuring the survival of our democracy means calling to account those who seek to harm it. That is why we are also requesting the school fully vet speakers for their role in undermining these commitments and hold them fully accountable for that complicity. The Institute of Politics at HKS, or any other center, has the responsibility to boldly confront Trump administration alumni invited to speak at Harvard about their collaboration or passive acceptance of this attack on truth and fundamental democratic principles -- or not invite them to speak at all.

We acknowledge this situation is nuanced as many appointees and career officials chose to join this administration to pursue the public good in spite of these norm violations. Others might claim to have upheld these norms from within. We are simply asking the school to create and share with students transparent guidelines of accountability that ensure its full commitment to the principles American democracy is built upon.

We remain fully committed to free speech and debate of difficult subjects -- especially the damage being done to democratic governance around the world. We do not believe, however, that individuals who engage in this behavior should be legitimized or rewarded by the university. An institution dedicated to the fostering of good democratic government should remain apart from those who were willing to bring it down for their own benefit.

Signed,

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Marita MacKinnon