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{shortcode-21cc3534b02e5a90dd1b6e61be0fe28423896a7e}s an angry, anxious Harvard waits to see whether University President Alan M. Garber ’76 will resist the Trump administration’s $9 billion ultimatum, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein has won rare approval among both faculty and students with his approach to the crisis.

Less than a year into his tenure, the former Stanford political scientist has not shied away from addressing Harvard’s Trump problem in both public statements and private conversations with faculty.

In February, Weinstein called for “introspection and action”after Trump’s funding cuts and layoffs, and announced a slew of public service programs as proof.

And at a faculty meeting on Tuesday, the dean addressed Harvard’s standoff with the White House, pledging to defend academic freedom and international students from deportation threats, according to two faculty members in attendance.

Though faculty at the meeting were split over whether the University should make a bold show of resistance or be more cautious in the face of serious financial strain, they agreed that Weinstein had earned their confidence and respect.

“It’s a tremendous amount of reassurance to some faculty and staff when you double down on doing the work that they think is important,” HKS professor Cornell William Brooks said. “And people know you’re serious.”

At the same time, Weinstein has been an effective messenger for the University, refraining from direct attacks against Trump while plainly arguing the administration’s cuts would hurt critical faculty contributions to the public.

“It takes a lot of emotional and psychological energy to be dispassionate when you’re looking at a problematic situation, and to remain dispassionate in assessing the realities and then figuring out how to deal with them as best you can,” HKS research professor Mark H. Moore said.

“And I think Jeremy has that quality,” he added.

‘One of the Happier Places’

In the weeks since President Donald Trump began systematically jeopardizing funding to American universities, Weinstein has been able to keep affiliates on his side. In Massachusetts Hall and at various graduate schools, administrators are having no such luck.

At the Faculty of Arts and Sciences meeting last week, Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra publicly defended the decision to dismiss the directors of the Center for Middle East Studies, to the dismay of many FAS faculty.

At the same meeting, Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana said the federal government was weaponizing antisemitism in its Title VI investigations — but quickly downplayed his implicit condemnation of Trump after the fact.

And days before, Harvard Divinity School Dean Marla Frederick announced the suspension of the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative — a program centered around the study of Israel and Palestine — and prompted outrage from students and alumni.

Faculty members and protesters alike accused Garber of directing the RCPI suspension and the CMES leadership changes as a preemptive capitulation to Trump’s demands. (The Trump administration itself still issued a series of steep demands days later.)

“It seems like Harvard is doing exactly what is demanded by our critics, and almost exactly what was demanded by the Trump administration of Columbia,” Government professor Ryan D. Enos said at the FAS meeting.

But at HKS — a school especially affected by a shrinking public sector and threats to international students — Weinstein has given faculty the impression of a steady leader capable of handling a crisis.

HKS professor Mathias Risse, the director of the Carr Center for Human Rights, said the school, “probably at this stage, is one of the happier places on campus.”

“And I think that is — to a good extent — because of the positive influence of Dean Weinstein,” he added.

The University seems to be taking note of Weinstein’s agile response. He attended meetings over the weekend with Harvard’s governing boards as they debated how to respond to Trump’s demands.

When asked to describe Weinstein’s approach, several HKS faculty members said the dean had been able to recognize the gravity of the moment without panicking.

“I get the sense he’s trying to use an analytic scalpel as opposed to a rhetorical sledgehammer,” Brooks said. “So not ducking the issues, but he is really trying to be precise. And that’s what you would expect. But in a great many places, that’s not what you get.”

HKS professor Tarek E. Masoud added that Weinstein had appeared “not easily rattled” since taking office in July — a stark contrast to the often embattled former HKS Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf.

“On the contrary, this guy is cool as a cucumber, and he’s still liking his job,” Masoud said. “He’s got a smile on his face — which I don’t think can be said of a lot of other people in higher education leadership.”

‘Careers and Lives Upended’

But Weinstein’s popularity may not be enough to protect Harvard’s school of government from the Trump administration’s plan to gut both the government and elite higher education.

While hospitals and scientific research centers may face the steepest funding threats from the Trump administration, the basic tenets of the Kennedy School — an institution that markets itself as a place to “create lasting positive global impact through public service” — are facing an unprecedented test.

“We’re facing some really difficult challenges,” Masoud said. “What is the place of a school of government in an America that believes that government needs to be drowned in a bathtub?”

According to Moore, the work of the Kennedy School is inherently a threat to the Trump administration.

“I think the last thing that the current administration of the country wants to see is universities being influential in the practice of government and governance,” Moore said. “And that’s a hard thing, because the Kennedy School stands for that.”

Beyond their research and political affiliations, the Kennedy School’s student body is particularly vulnerable to retribution from the Trump administration.

Nearly 60 percent of HKS current students are international, according to a November diversity report released by the school. The onslaught of revoked visas and deportations in recent weeks has created a pervasive sense of fear on campus, students said.

At Harvard, 12 affiliates — including seven current students — have had their visas revoked in the past month. Harvard has not named the affiliates and was not told when or why the revocations occurred.

Even before visa revocations were confirmed, rumors of a supposed raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on campus spread quickly from an all-student group chat, exacerbating already widespread anxiety over an immigration crackdown. (An HKS spokesperson confirmed to The Crimson that ICE was not present on campus.)

Students and graduates of HKS are also disproportionately affected by the slashing of the federal workforce, with more than 30 percent of the Class of 2024 entering government positions after graduation.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has fired federal government employees en masse, including tens of thousands of probationary workers who have been in their role for less than two years — including many recent HKS graduates.

Weinstein directly addressed the fallout from Trump’s actions in his Feb. 27 public statement, referencing HKS alumni in the public sector who “had their careers and lives upended” and international students “concerned about potential changes to immigration policies.”

“Questions about how to revitalize democracy, strengthen civil society, and improve the performance of government have never been more important,” Weinstein wrote in February.

‘Responsive to the Moment’

Earlier this week, Weinstein launched his latest initiative to address current political upheaval — a competitive grants program offering up to $20,000 to HKS faculty who propose projects “responsive to the moment.”

“The goal is to help us learn from this moment of large-scale change,” Weinstein wrote in a letter to faculty announcing the program. “Significant pivots in critical policy areas have been accompanied by dramatic efforts to transform how the federal government operates.”

The offering represents a rare funding opportunity as schools and programs across Harvard brace for drastic cuts to federal grants. Garber himself announced an indefinite hiring freeze a month before Trump declared that nearly $9 billion in grants were on the line.

But while the rest of Harvard takes stock, Weinstein is pushing faculty to research the ongoing policy and institutional changes, analyze their impact “at the household, community, national, or global level,” and propose reforms.

“We will be looking to seed new projects that would not be undertaken otherwise and that frame or scope new agendas that would ultimately have potential to attract significant external support,” Weinstein wrote.

The grants are open to any PI-approved faculty and encourage collaboration between multiple HKS research centers.

Brooks said he’s confident Weinstein will preserve the government school’s integrity as the federal leadership changes.

“Nobody’s biting their nails, nobody’s quaking in their boots,” Brooks said. “We’re about the business of doing the work.”

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.

—Staff writer Tanya J. Vidhun can be reached at tanya.vidhun@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @tanyavidhun.