On Sea Island, a private resort off the coast of Georgia, some of the country’s most influential conservatives gather each March for a conference that operates under near-total secrecy. Its agenda is unpublished, the conversations are off the record, and the audience is both small and powerful.

Last month, Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 entered that room.

On March 13, Garber appeared at the annual World Forum hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, joining a panel on higher education alongside Arizona State University President Michael M. Crow. The discussion, moderated by AEI Senior Fellow Jenna Silber Storey, drew roughly 100 attendees, according to a person familiar with the event.

Linda G. Mills, president of New York University, was slated to join Garber’s panel, according to a February draft agenda, but her name did not appear on the final version distributed to attendees. In that earlier draft, Garber had only indicated interest in participating and had not yet been confirmed as a panelist. The conference itself took place at The Cloister, a ritzy 50-acre resort where nightly room rates can exceed $1,000.

The panel, framed as a discussion on “useful” and “counterproductive” aspects of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against elite universities, covered a range of issues: Harvard’s ongoing clash with the White House, the impending endowment tax hike, threats to international student enrollment, and the rising cost of higher education, the person said. But Garber largely reiterated positions he has outlined publicly in recent months, offering little in the way of new proposals.

He again pointed to Harvard’s interest in expanding viewpoint diversity, a priority that has taken on new urgency amid mounting external criticism, the person said. He did not, however, describe how the University planned to achieve that goal. (The Crimson reported last week that top administrators are in talks with donors to endow new professorships for viewpoint diversity at a sticker price of $10 million).

Garber said his actions were constrained by a faculty constituency who must be brought along with any decision-making, the person said — a point of contrast with Crow, who has wide latitude to exert change at ASU, they added.

Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in a statement that “President Garber speaks at a variety of events, both on and off campus, on a wide range of topics.”

After the panel, Garber spoke with Sen. Daniel S. “Dan” Sullivan ’87 (R-AK), the Harvard alumnus who has become one of the University’s most persistent critics, according to the person.

Sullivan has repeatedly condemned Harvard’s leadership, particularly in the wake of campus activism following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

A spokesperson from Sullivan’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the senator’s conversation with Garber.

The AEI is the intellectual watering hole for heavyweight right-wing activists, with longstanding ties to the neoconservative Charles Koch Foundation and the Bradley Foundation. Its annual summit — notorious for its secrecy — regularly brings together high-profile Republican elected officials, conservative activists, and business titans.

This year, some of the country’s most outspoken conservatives — including U.S. Education Secretary Linda E. McMahon, U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) — were slated to speak at the four-day conference.

The agenda also included several leading figures from Harvard, including professors Jason Furman ’92, Gita Gopinath, and Jack Goldsmith. Billionaire David M. Rubenstein, a former member of the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — was also scheduled to speak.

AEI director of media relations Brady Africk wrote in a statement that “AEI’s World Forum brings together experts and leaders from different backgrounds to discuss the most pressing issues and policies facing America.”

Garber and Crow have taken markedly different approaches to the federal government.

While Harvard has spent much of the past year in the Trump administration’s crosshairs, ASU has largely escaped the ire of the Trump administration. Crow himself has actively pursued a working relationship with the White House, and ASU administrators met regularly with senior Trump officials last year to propose opportunities for collaboration.

McMahon told the Wall Street Journal in November that she was “incredibly impressed” with Crow’s work and called him “a really smart guy.”

McMahon has taken a decidedly different tact with Harvard. In a May letter suspending federal grants to Harvard, McMahon slammed the University’s “disastrous mismanagement” and said Harvard had “made a mockery of this country’s higher education system.”

A copy of last year’s agenda shows 12 sitting Republican senators and representatives spoke at the summit, including Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-NY). Stefanik was invited to this year’s Forum, but did not ultimately attend.

Alongside Stefanik, Sullivan has repeatedly taken aim at Harvard.

In a December 2023 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Sullivan described Harvard’s leadership as “craven” and “morally bankrupt” and instructed Congress to step in and “save” elite institutions from themselves. When then-University President Claudine Gay resigned a month later, Sullivan applauded the decision on X, calling it “the right thing to do.”

Sullivan has not let up on Harvard since. Speaking on the Senate floor last year, Sullivan said Harvard had “huge problems” and alleged that antisemitism had reached “disturbing and sickening levels.”

Since assuming Harvard’s top post more than two years ago, Garber has made a point to engage with public officials across the political spectrum. He has visited D.C. a number of times to meet with House and Senate leaders and the Massachusetts congressional delegation.

His appearance at the forum came one day before Harvard’s spring break, a period presidents have typically used for travel, often to meet alumni and academic partners abroad. Garber’s schedule for the week was not publicized this year.

In prior years, he has followed that pattern. Garber abruptly cancelled a planned multi-city visit to India last spring. The year before, Garber visited alumni in London and Miami.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at hcc.35. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at elisespenner.82. Follow her on X @EliseSpenner.