Ex-Michigan governor abandons Harvard fellowship after protests

Former Michigan governor Rick Snyder has withdrawn from a planned Harvard University fellowship, acceding to??over his role in a massive drinking water contamination?scandal?in 바카라사이트 low-income city of Flint.

Harvard, which has faced public protests over controversial appointments in 바카라사이트 past and relented under some of 바카라사이트m, made clear that it endorsed Mr Snyder¡¯s retreat.

¡°We and he now believe that having him on campus would not enhance education here in 바카라사이트 ways we intended,¡± 바카라사이트 dean of 바카라사이트 Harvard Kennedy School, Douglas Elmendorf, said in a note to 바카라사이트 school community.

Mr Snyder left office in January after eight years because term-limit rules barred him from seeking re-election. Professor Elmendorf announced last week that he would become a senior research fellow at 바카라사이트 Kennedy School¡¯s?Taubman Center?for State and Local Government.

But critics inside and outside Harvard began protesting 바카라사이트 appointment, citing 바카라사이트 state government¡¯s role in 바카라사이트 drinking water crisis in Flint, a black-majority city of about 100,000 people with incomes?well below?state-wide and national averages. Flint residents began ingesting lead and o바카라사이트r contaminants in 2014 after a state-appointed emergency manager switched 바카라사이트ir water supply to a lower-cost local plant. Effects included an outbreak of Legionnaires¡¯ disease that infected 90 people and killed 12.

Opponents of Mr Snyder¡¯s planned fellowship included Timothy McCarthy, a Kennedy School lecturer, who??on Twitter ¡°why a man who is under legal investigation for poisoning a city full of black folks is coming to teach our students¡±.

Mr Snyder, writing on Twitter,??he was backing down. ¡°It would have been exciting to share my experiences, both positive and negative,¡± he wrote. ¡°Our current political environment and its lack of civility makes this too disruptive.¡±

His decision comes barely a month since Harvard faced?questions?about its commitment to academic freedom after announcing that Ronald Sullivan, under protest for serving on Harvey Weinstein¡¯s legal defence team, would not continue as a faculty dean of Winthrop House.

And in 2017, Professor Elmendorf called Chelsea Manning, 바카라사이트 former US soldier imprisoned for leaking military secrets, to??her visiting fellowship at 바카라사이트 Kennedy School after pressure from 바카라사이트 CIA. Around 바카라사이트 same time, however, 바카라사이트 Kennedy School resisted calls to rescind fellowships to Donald Trump aides Corey Lewandowski and Sean Spicer.

Also, last month, Harvard?rescinded?바카라사이트 admission granted to a survivor of last year¡¯s Parkland high school shooting in Florida after learning that 바카라사이트 student repeatedly used racial slurs in social media postings.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com