Small businesses across America are wondering how they’ll survive after being forced to shut down for several weeks over the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
On March 27, President Trump signed the CARES Act, an unprecedented $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill, into law. The package included hundreds of billions of dollars in loans to both small businesses and large companies, as well as direct payments of up to $1,200 for individuals. Nearly $14 billion was allocated to support higher education institutions during the pandemic as part of the CARES Act.
Yesterday, the Harvard Crimson wrote about the $9 million in aid Havard University (one of America’s most liberal indoctrination mills) will receive from the federal government as part of the CARES Act.
The Department of Education allocated most of the $14 billion in funds based on two factors: the share of recipients of federal Pell Grants, and overall undergraduate and graduate enrollment numbers. It weighted the proportion of Pell Grant recipients as a factor at 75 percent, while enrollment was weighted at 25 percent.
As a result, the top 20 colleges which received the most funding are all public colleges and universities with enrollments in the tens or hundreds of thousands. Arizona State University received the largest relief package of any institution in the nation, netting more than $63 million.
Harvard’s aid package is the third-largest of the Ivy League universities’. Columbia University and Cornell University will receive the largest awards, at $12.8 million each. Yale University will receive nearly $7 million, and Princeton University will net around $2.5 million.
Many Americans, including President Trump’s eldest son, Don Jr., were stunned to see that $9 million in aid that was allocated for Harvard University, who has an incredible $40 billion endowment fund.
Yesterday, Trump Jr. called out Harvard in a tweet, blasting them for accepting the $9 million in federal aid and for hiring professors who give research secrets to the Chinese. Trump Jr. was referring to Charles Leiber, a Harvard University professor, who chairs the prestigious school’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department. On January 28, 2020, he was arrested by federal authorities, and is being accused by the U.S. government of lying to officials about his ties to a Chinese school and program aimed at furthering the communist superpower’s “scientific development, economic prosperity and national security.”
“So rather than going to a small business that actually needs the money, Harvard, with a $40 billion endowment and professors that keep getting arrested for giving research secrets to the Chinese Government takes $9,000,000 they don’t need so a small business can’t,” Trump Jr. tweeted
So rather than going to a small business that actually needs the money, Harvard, with a $40 billion endowment and professors that keep getting arrested for giving research secrets to the Chinese Government takes $9,000,000 they don’t need so a small business can’t.
What a joke! https://t.co/ozZmLp0pRM
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 20, 2020
Today, during his Wuhan coronavirus press conference, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was asked about the $9 million in aid that was promised to Harvard, Trump jumped in, saying, he was going to ask for Harvard to return the money. “I’m going to request it,” Trump said, pointing to himself. “Harvard’s gonna pay back the money,” he said, adding, “And they shouldn’t be taking it.” Trump clarified, “When I saw Harvard, they have one of the largest endowments in the country, maybe in the world, I guess—and uh, they’re gonna pay back that money,” Trump added, while a seemingly helpless and speechless Steve Mnuchin looked on from the podium.
https://twitter.com/TeamTrump/status/1252719270989115393?s=20
What do you think? Should a university with a $40 billion dollar endowment be taking $9 million from the federal government, when so many small businesses aren’t going to get enough federal aid to keep their businesses afloat? Should the federal governement make their decision to bail out institutions of higher based on the size of the school’s endowment fund?
