Student Union
Harvard Dropout to Address Harvard Grads
Mark Zuckerberg, 32, who dropped out of Harvard College in 2004 to pursue a career in social-media platforms, will give this year's commencement speech at the Massachusetts university.
Harvard, ranked among the top five American universities and typically perceived as No. 1, will address students at the May 25 main ceremony held on Harvard Yard, the leafy green space between the school's older buildings.
Zuckerberg "has profoundly altered the nature of social engagement worldwide," said Harvard President Drew Faust.
Zuckerberg launched the digital thefacebook.com in February 2004 after a week of coding, according to the Harvard Crimson. The website took parts of a paper directory that Harvard had compiled annually for new students that offered "extensive profile features that allow students to search for others in their courses, social organizations and Houses."
Harvard was working on a similar project, but, as the Crimson reported, Zuckerberg became impatient with the time it was taking.
"I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in a week,” he said in 2004.
Zuckerberg had more than 650 registered students when he launched and expected 900 students more by the next morning.
“If you’re in a class where you don’t know anyone and want to ask somebody for help, this is a way to find out the names of people in that class,” said thefacebook.com user Roberto C. Acosta.
Zuckerberg left Harvard shortly after in his sophomore year to pursue the digital version. He is the head of the $350 billion a year social media platform that employees 17,000 people. Nearly 2 billion users around the world are on Facebook.
Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, a 2007 Harvard College graduate, have pledged to donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), according to the Harvard Gazette. The initiative's mission is to advance human potential and promote equal opportunity.
"Through their work with CZI, they have pledged to spend more than $3 billion over the next decade to work with scientists, doctors, engineers, and universities to cure, prevent, or manage diseases," the Gazette reported.
Harvard's commencement exercises and speakers are often legend. Zuckerberg appears in a promotional video about the commencement speech with another Harvard dropout, Bill Gates, 61, who heads Microsoft and is among the richest people on the planet.
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
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