Tejas Billa, a sophomore at Harvard, described the climate at one of the country’s top-ranked schools and how some students feel "not welcome" in certain departments and classes in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
"I do absolutely think it's a systemic issue," Billa told Fox. "I'd say that President Garber's comments were really in line with what a lot of the reports and the investigations into them found, which is that there are a lot of political biases."
Billa refers to comments that were made by Garber during the "Identity/Crisis Podcast" in mid-December. During the show, Garber addressed concerns about activism in the classroom being driven by faculty.
Garber also acknowledged how professors or faculty members who push their ideals on students can make those students feel cornered or isolated.
"If a professor in a classroom says, this is what I believe about this issue, how many students — some of you probably would be prepared to deal with this, but most people wouldn’t — how many students would actually be willing to go toe to toe against a professor who’s expressed a firm view about a controversial issue?" Garber questioned.
Billa confirmed Garber’s explanation that conservatives will intentionally avoid taking certain courses, especially social science, because they know they won’t feel comfortable or have the opportunity to voice their opinions.
The Harvard student noted that those courses typically have a "political bias towards, generally, the left."
"There's been a lot of pretty well documented instances of professors rescheduling classes to allow students to attend a left-wing protest," Billa told Fox News Digital. "That was in the task force report and I think that absolutely has an effect on, you know, the students in the class and what they're willing to say in the class and at school more broadly."
President Donald Trump's administration has been at odds with the Ivy League university since he took office over antisemitism concerns and the liberal bias that Billa and Garber describe.
In April of last year, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard outlining reforms the school should make regarding DEI, antisemitism, hiring and admissions practices.
Harvard rejected the demands, leading to a $2.2 billion federal funding freeze last April that lasted until September when an Obama-appointed Massachusetts judge ruled the freeze unconstitutional.
The Trump administration filed for appeal, which was granted, and set the stage for a continued legal battle into 2026.
When asked about whether the legal battle was a distraction for Harvard, Billa said it’s impacting students "a whole ton," but is a result of uncovered bias that has been kept off the radar.
"I also think that there were a lot of these sorts of instances of political bias, of antisemitism that just kept building until they really reached a breaking point in the last couple of years," Billa told Fox News Digital. "People realized how bad the situation has gotten and how it's actually impacting students a whole ton."
Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard for comment.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news.
Without consequences, partisan and intolerant school administrators will continue to support partisan and intolerant teachers and curriculum. They will not take the enforcement steps necessary to ensure that all students can express their beliefs without fear. At the very least they are violating the terms of their Federal aid. We should not be giving Federal money to schools that allow religious intolerance, or permit the intimidation of students and speakers because of their opinions? These school officials aid and abet Federal crimes and civil rights violations. The DOJ should be arresting them, not suing them. If you pay tuition, pick schools that demonstrate they value political and religious tolerance.
There should be a moral code. Allowing everyone to express beliefs that are contrary to the fabric of the nation is why we are where we are. Influence by China, Russia and Iran have pretty much doomed these institutions.
I agree though suggest it NOT be a moral code, different people have different morals, concrete RULES are necessary.
Maybe stop letting the whole world attend our schools and invest in our own kids' futures. We're not the only country on the planet who has universities.
Harvard’s president seems to acknowledge political bias, but has done nothing to correct the problem. Leaving it up to the courts is like trusting a fox to guard the chicken coup.
Stop the funding of these institutions...then let's see how long they remain open...
So many schools ....They receive federal monies and are permitted to discriminate. Something and someone is preventing this from getting stooped.
Teachers unions are a huge voting block. And now students come out of school unable to read at grade level or to do math. Their view of history is distorted and they are taught to be angry and entitled. Teachers and journalists have changed the world and split this country into varying degrees of mob rule. I never thought this could happen.
Jimmy carter set up the federal department of education in 1879 for the purpose of indoctrination and infiltration of the public and private school systems. It wasn't an accident that our K-12 and universities are woke and worship socialism.
All of my children went to state college and they dealt with this years ago as did my husband and I back in the early seventies. This has been going on for decades. My children learned to write papers that met their professors ideologies in order to pass with a good grade. This is nothing new and continues to be a problem most places. It’s an unfortunate situation for students who are not allowed to think for themselves or express themselves freely without fear of being targeted and having their grades impacted. This is a poison that has infected our schools at all levels now as we see little children being indoctrinated. It’s always the liberal agenda that takes away individual freedom of expression and drives wedges.
Classes?? Avoid Harvard altogether and you'll have a better chance at a good career. The country is learning that these elite schools aren't producing better employees.
Agree but they should not be given public money and should also make their ‘position’(religion) known. How is it any different from a Christian university promoting and teaching a Christian world view and doctrine? They aren’t allowed to recieve public funds.
The Christian colleges receive minuscule amounts compared to private colleges. Amounts given to private colleges need to be cut to the same amounts given Christian colleges.
The argument against defunding the ivy league schools is that they are doing important research and the grants are needed. Why do we need a middle man like the university? The researchers need the money. The university does not
Researchers supposedly look for bias in their stats and results. I would ask who is monitoring the research results of these schools that are receiving federal funding. As with the many organizations that have been discovered to be taking money for fraudulent causes, are researchers, through schools or private organizations, using tax dollars appropriately? We are spending big money and no matter what we should be getting better results.
Dude, they publish peer reviewed journal articles. It’s the peer review that ensures the science is good.
Funding is sent through grant applications that have to demonstrate what they use the money for.
Just because you don’t understand how this works doesn’t mean there’s no accountability.
"...how many students would actually be willing to go toe to toe against a professor who’s expressed a firm view about a controversial issue?" -
ESPECIALLY if that professor can give the student a grade that severely impacts the student's GPA - few to none would challenge that professor.
Why would anyone want to pay for and attend a university that behaved like this? How could you possibly receive a good education worthy of the time, cost and effort? If this is true; and you are personally experiencing it and haven't changed universities; it's on you at this point.
Agreed, but a lot of students want the "prestige" of what Haaaaaa-vvvvvard used to be.
They either refuse to accept the obvious or they settle.
Because their parents believe in the same indoctrination.
I was in college during the 60's earning a bachelor's, master's and a doctorate. My professors concentrated on subject content and never brought up politics. We need to return to that.
Your professors were the last of a dying breed in the education system......
they were professionals.
Our public school is/was in the top 5%. We had dozens of students with perfect ACT scores every year when my kids were in high school. Many of those students applied to Harvard and were rejected. You have to be deep into global warming or social justice to get in, unless you're the child of a politician or billionaire. They are admitting students that all have the same ideology. There is no diversity of thought. They're producing clones.
They blatantly ignore the 2 Supreme Court 2023 decisions that bar consideration of race in school admissions. One of them was against Harvard!
A lot of the Harvard student type people would never make it in a trade school. Trade schools require common sense to be successful at learning a hands-on trade.
I was in graduate school in the early 80's and professors expanding on liberal talking points was happening then. It has just become more and more expounded upon and accepted as what students should use as a guide to their own ideas. As a conservative even then, I learned when not to speak. I did listen, think through what was being said and contrasted that with what I saw around me. I disagreed in private, got my degree and moved on. It is so much worse today with open aggression towards conservatives.
they are not ivy league, they are liberal league.
Yep, they are playing just enough of the game to keep the DOJ off their backs and secure their funding.
Courses named "Social Science" and "Political Science" are nothing near being Science. The reason these courses are labeled "Science" is to help those with majors in these areas believe they understand Science, when, in fact, they don't understand Science. Students in these areas are easily manipulated and influenced. They believe their Arts Professors squawking about Climate Change, but neither students nor Professors in Arts can pass the Science classes necessary to understand Climate Change. Yet somehow, they know it all. Can't tell them anything.
Over four years ago I quit hiring any Ivy league graduate and have also been able to get rid of the few previous Ivy league graduate employees on staff. Our workplace has benefited greatly from these simple steps and the company has seen excellent growth.
Not such a great university today, even the Puritans would be ashamed of the status of the current institution.
I'd be filing a lawsuit if I had a professor that canceled or rescheduled class for leftie OR conservative protests. That is not what I paid for. I'd consider it a breach of contract.
For the majority of youths a good trade school is much better than a college. The student graduates with the ability to earn a good wage compared to a college student who cannot find employment. Good case is AOC who graduated with a degree and was tending bar when she was elected into politics. To hear this person speak you would never know she has a degree. One of her statements "most of it will be paid for with taxes. The rest will be paid for by the government."
Wake up people, it’s happening at all universities across the country. If someone tells you that it isn’t they are lying. I have grandchildren in two different colleges and they have said that the bias is over the top. It’s exactly what is wrong with our educational system. Personally, I think it’s too late to be corrected. The damage is done and continues to be done.
Parents, if you want your college-aged children's personality to change, by all means send them to Harvard or several other "high-end" expensive colleges. What you'll get back will most likely be someone you won't recognize. And not in a good way!
When an institution is purely partisan then it should lose tax exempt status.
Decades ago, schools and universities used to more about friendly debate and discussions moderated by unbiased professors in liberal arts courses. Not any more. Today, it's more about indoctrination - not just in universities but also in public schools. Go woke, go broke. Why is Harvard ENTITLED to $2.2B of federal taxpayer money if they indirectly discriminate against the other half of the US with conservative views?
How many people think college professors are worth the effort to go toe to toe? They are a means to an end.
This is what kids are paying for, hundreds of thousands of dollars for an opinion not facts, no open minded discussions, rescheduling classes for nothing constructive only to protest a political forum, professors who no longer can teach or support anything but political forums.
"When asked about whether the legal battle was a distraction for Harvard, Billa said it’s impacting students "a whole ton," but is a result of uncovered bias that has been kept off the radar"
How was the bias kept off the radar? Do they not monitor the teachers and other deans? Do the students end of course surveys ever get viewed? Do they not watch the news and wonder how their professors always end up in negative press? Do they not monitor their ratings?
Oh, there is rot in that old school and a complete garden and rebuild is needed.
Get the government out of the student loan business. If the cash cow dries up perhaps colleges and universities will go back to actually offering quality educational courses to prepare student for a successful career.
These colleges can do as they please but they must not receive one cent of taxpayer money.
If Federal dollars are given to these elite schools then the books they use should be available and folks should be able to self teach and test out at harvard.
Schools are suffering student shortages, and thus financial woes because they have evolved from learning institutions into indoctrination centers. Why would parents want to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars just to have their children indoctrinated?
With a few exceptions, professors have always been left wing. They can't find work in the real world.
I don't understand why people feel it's important to pay for some highfalutin school that are so against them, except for their money. I was in a management level for most of my 40+ year career. Many of the positions I hired required a college degree. I can't remember once where I looked at the name of the university that awarded the degree. It was up to personnel to verify the degree, but not to prioritize any specific college.
Once "Students" realize they have entered into a contract and transactional process with the University they may get something done. A teacher rescheduling a class for a personal agenda item has broken the contract between themselves, the university, and the students. The Students pay to have a course of instruction. Failure to provide that because of personal issues is basically calling out on your job. Too may absences and there's the door.
Harvard is just the tip of the DEI iceberg in American colleges and universities.
This is what chilling speech looks and feels like.
America is facing more problems than almost at any other time in history, we have the democrat party literally transforming America into some form of marxist society, we have states and cities declaring sanctuaries for illegal aliens in defiance of federal supremacy as set forth in the constitution and the feds cannot carry out any corrective action either via funding or other action due to a contaminated judiciary and a dysfunctional legislative branch. I don't see anyway out except armed conflict we cannot solve these problems via litigation.
A college professor who cannot teach without bias should not be a college professor. The idea of higher education is to open minds and teach critical thinking skills. What we have today is discouragement of debate and thinking skills. Political operatives in place of professors.
I went to a Technical College and studied refrigeration and electrical engineering. I may never make the kind of money that the students that graduate from Harvard make, but I will always be smarter than any one of them because I earned my education. it wasn't handed to me because my parents wrote a fat check to the school.
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