Petition also targets Rep. Dan Crenshaw, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany
A petition being circulated by Harvard University students calls for the revocation of the degrees of alumni who “used their platforms to deny the validity of the presidential election.”
The “Revoke Their Degrees” petition calls out three Republican alumni in particular: Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Dan Crenshaw and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
“Harvard must revoke the degrees of alumni whose incendiary language and subversion of democratic processes–rooted in a history of white supremacist voter suppression–incited the violent insurrection on January 6,” the petition states.
“This includes all who have used their platforms to deny the validity of the presidential election. They do not and should not represent a university committed to ‘strengthening democracy’ and ‘the advancement of justice,'” it adds.
The petition was first reported by Fox Business, which noted “none of the people named as targets in the petition are being investigated for inciting [the Capitol] unrest,” and a Harvard spokesman “declined to comment other than to say the university is aware of the petition.”
The petition praised Harvard’s recent decision to remove Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik from its political science advisory board after she voted against certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory. But its authors added that doesn’t go far enough.
“[B]anning someone from a committee or campus because they incited a violent attempt to overthrow the U.S. government is the least the University can do; it still grants them the benefits of their Harvard degree everywhere outside of Cambridge,” it stated.
“Revoke their degrees,” the petition emphasized.
“There is long-standing institutional anxiety that penalizing alumni will chill open discourse on campus,” it stated.
“Harvard should be confident in its ability to expose students to diverse viewpoints without empowering the instigators of a violent, racist revanchist movement. There should be little concern of a cascading ‘slippery slope’ of degrees revoked – unless more alumni choose to encourage armed insurrection in the future.”
The petition comes on the heels of another petition circulated late last year that demanded “accountability guidelines” when considering inviting Trump administration officials to speak or teach at the Ivy League institution.
MORE: Activists want to see universities refuse a platform for Trump officials
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