Former Ed Secretary Miguel Cardona Says Students Should Be Patient With Garber at FGLI Visibility Week Event

Former Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona called on Harvard students to be patient with University President Alan M. Garber ’76 as he faces sustained political threats from Washington at a Harvard Foundation event on Monday.

Cardona, invited to speak as part of Harvard’s First-Gen and/or Low-Income Visibility Week, said decisions by Harvard officials to “change names and programs” should be viewed as measures to protect students from further political scrutiny and funding cuts.

His comments follow a string of changes to support systems by University officials, including the closure of three diversity offices, the end of a major undergraduate minority recruitment program, and the renaming of Harvard’s central Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging — now “Community and Campus Life.”

“That is the challenge of leadership in 2025,” Cardona said, speaking in the Smith Center Collaborative Commons. “The decisions on this campus to change names and programs might be to protect students, yet it’s frustrating to recognize that that must happen.”

Students should extend “grace” to Garber as he navigates pressure from Washington, Cardona told the more than 50 people who attended his talk at the Smith Campus Center.

Cardona served as secretary of education under former President Joe Biden, leading initiatives to expand Title IX protections to LGBTQ students and overseeing the distribution of $170 billion in federal education funding. His department was also aggressive in investigating Harvard for a series of alleged Title VI violations for antisemitism, anti-Palestinian discrimination, and donor and legacy preference in admissions.

Cardona — a first-generation student himself — focused much of his speech on the importance of federal funding for higher education. He urged FGLI students to help lead the country out of a “pandemic of prejudice” that he credited with setting the stage for funding cuts and widespread political attacks on higher education.

Harvard researchers have had billions in grants cut by the White House since April, though a judge ordered the administration to return the funds in September. The University is also reeling in the wake of a massive endowment tax hike that is projected to cost Harvard more than $300 million every year.

The former education secretary also answered questions on his college experience, imposter syndrome, and challenges that FGLI students currently face. When asked about how FGLI students should view political challenges to Harvard and other universities, Cardona said that like the Covid-19 pandemic, the country will emerge stronger.

“We’re in a storm right now,” he said. “We’re going to come out stronger and smarter and more resilient.”

He also told students that learning from diverse perspectives allowed him to craft better policies in the Education Department.

“Everything that was different I assumed was bad. Fast forward, as Secretary of Education, I realized what made me different made me better,” Cardona said, adding that the lesson could be applied to the country as a whole.

As for the fight itself, Cardona urged students to think critically about their role.

“You will be called on to be the ones that learned, not only from the pandemic, but what we’re going through now,” he said. “This isn’t a red or a blue thing, this is an everyone thing. Our values are at stake.”