https://www.wsj.com/articles/harvard-is-big-business-at-its-worst-tax-exempt-price-gouging-stakeholder-capitalism-fc091443?mod=opinion_lead_pos5
Most Americans probably heard of the Harvard Corp. for the first time last week, when it issued a supercilious statement affirming its support for Harvard President Claudine Gay. The corporation, Harvard’s governing body, wrote that Ms. Gay “is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.”
The statement was effectively a middle finger to alumni such as hedge-fund titan Bill Ackman, who had demanded Ms. Gay be canned after she equivocated before Congress over whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s rules against bullying. The corporation wished to convey it wouldn’t bow to outside pressure.
Corporation is an apt appellation for Harvard and other Ivy League schools, considering they operate more like for-profit businesses than educational institutions. Unlike businesses, however, they lack shareholders to hold them accountable. This makes them models of the left’s “stakeholder capitalism” paradigm.
The Harvard Corp. consists of 13 members, including the president. It is self-selecting—members elect new members—and boasts that it is “the oldest corporation in the Western Hemisphere.” Governing bodies of other Ivy League schools, including Yale and Columbia, are also referred to as corporations, which are structured to limit alumni influence in their affairs.
