President Holley on NEPM and “The Harvard Plan”
President Danielle R. Holley spoke to both New England Public Media and the podcast “The Harvard Plan” about how higher education is not the enemy, as well as supporting students going forward.
President Danielle R. Holley spoke to about why colleges and universities shouldn’t obey in advance the , including a crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
President Holley said many colleges are being advised to hide their DEI programs and LGBTQ+ outreach. However, Mount Holyoke will not be doing so.
“To basically comply with things that are not within our values simply because we feel a threat of investigation is something that we should not be doing as the higher education community,” she said.
President Holley told NEPM that Mount Holyoke is looking to support students who may be affected by the incoming administration’s hostile anti-diversity and anti-LGBTQ+ policies. That could include offering gender-affirming care to students who may no longer be able to access such support in their home state.
WNYC’s “On The Media” podcast in collaboration with The Boston Globe also aired its final episode of “The Harvard Plan” on Friday, Dec. 20. The podcast explored the aftermath of Claudine Gay’s short, troubled tenure as president of Harvard University. The first and final episodes featured President Holley.
President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have both called American higher education “the enemy.” In a speech, Vance referred to institutions including “the universities, which control the knowledge in our society, which control what we call truth and what we call falsity, that provides research, that gives credibility to some of the most ridiculous ideas that exist in our country.”
President Holley responded on the podcast by saying “So, if the truth is malleable, if the truth is just something that we play out on social media … there is no actual truth. I think when you put universities in the bull’s-eye, you're essentially putting concepts like knowledge and truth, even values into question, right?”
“The Harvard Plan” is available on , , and via .
