Letters: Commonwealth campus decision demands action; Where do we stand?

Commonwealth campus decision demands action

Across Pennsylvania, people are rightly questioning Penn State’s board of trustees’ closure decision and considering how to reverse it. In addition to hampering the excellent work commonwealth campuses do making education a public good, the vote also contradicts prior assurances by President Bendapudi in 2022 that there’d be no mass layoffs or campus consolidations.

The board’s closure vote also marks a departure from Sarah Thorndike’s celebration of Penn State’s “adding $1 billion to our net assets this fiscal year,” a figure flagged in the report on page 2 and evidenced on page 17.

The board’s decision flies in the face of our elite Moody’s 2024 credit rating of AA1 and S&P’s AA (both the second highest). Moody’s forecast Penn State’s “strong national reputation and large footprint will continue to support favorable student demand, even as demographic and competitive pressures intensify.” S&P recognized our “steady strong enrollment,” and “high retention rates”; Moody’s lauded Penn State’s “scale and diversity of activity,” “excellent brand,” and in 2022, praised our “important social role as a key economic anchor.” The university touted our increasing graduation across the Penn State system. Thus, the “demographic cliff” President Bendapudi repeats when promoting the closure plan is not an obstacle for continued financial stability. Our large scale is a strength.

Instead of parroting the administration’s narrative that Penn State would fall into a demographic abyss of despair lest we sever seven commonwealth campuses, readers should ask, “why cut?” I hope you’ll also ask, “is the sky really falling?” Join those concluding this decision demands action, not surrender.

Where do we stand?

Donald Trump’s petty and reckless assault on Harvard University and foreign students is not just a xenophobic tantrum — it’s a direct attack on America’s intellectual, economic and moral foundation.

Foreign students are not enemies. They are a lifeline. They bring billions of dollars into our economy, enrich our campuses and cities with global perspectives, and drive innovation in everything from medicine to technology. Many stay after earning their degrees to build companies, teach in our schools, and heal our sick. They are the best and brightest — exactly the kind of people any sane nation should be desperate to keep.

But Trump doesn’t want intellect. He wants division. His move to expel foreign students is not about security or policy — it’s about cruelty and xenophobia. It sends one message to the world: Don’t come here. America no longer wants you.

Harvard — and every institution with a spine — should refuse to cooperate. Let Trump do his worst. If he wants to burn down the country’s global standing and ruin the U.S. economy, let history remember who lit the match. Academia should not cower before autocracy. Defend democratic values with action, not appeasement.

This isn’t just about Harvard. It’s about the soul of a nation. Do we stand for knowledge, progress and inclusion — or for fear, ignorance and isolation?

We know where Trump stands. The question is: where do we?

Waziri deserves justice

On Memorial Day we honor the brave men and women who, as President Abraham Lincoln said, “gave the last full measure of devotion. “ This year on that day of remembrance my thoughts included one hero not adequately remembered or honored: Abdul Rahman Waziri.

In Afghanistan, Waziri protected U.S. soldiers by finding and detonating IEDs, improvised explosive devises. With a death sentence by the Taliban on his head, he was fortunate to be permitted to immigrate to the U.S. Many other Afghans who worked to save American lives are still barred from entering our country.

On April 27, Waziri was murdered in Houston, Texas, over a parking dispute. He was unarmed. Security camera videos confirmed that the gunman, who vandalized Waziri’s car then returned with a gun, was in no way under physical threat when he shot Waziri several times.

When the police arrived, the murderer claimed self-defense. The police took his gun, but did not arrest him and he walked away from the scene of the crime. A group of Green Berets, who fought alongside Waziri, have called for justice for their murdered “brother.” According to the latest report, May 23, the shooter remains free and uncharged. Of the few news sources that followed the case, most have dropped the subject.

For race/ethnic classification, our federal government considers Middle Eastern people as “white.” But, apparently, not white enough to receive justice in our country.

Martin Luther King wrote that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 6:00 AM.