3 Lessons in Power: Harvard, Columbia, and The Fear Threshold

Last week, Harvard sued the Trump administration over a $2 billion funding freeze. But this story isn’t just about legal filings or federal grants, it’s about power. Who has it. Who uses it. Who overplays it. And who decides to push back.

What Harvard is doing right now isn’t just to set a legal precedent, it’s a deeply strategic and layered move and a lesson in power we can all learn from.

3 Key Lessons in Power From This Cultural Moment:

1. The Surface Lesson (What Harvard learned from Columbia):

When you give ground too quickly, the ground keeps shifting.

Columbia University became an early target of the Trump administration for its handling of student protests last summer, and it moved quickly to appease the administration by issuing public condemnations, disciplining protestors, and suspending student groups.

The Trump administration responded with more demands: audits, funding scrutiny, leadership changes, and threats to accreditation.

In essence, early compliance emboldened further overreach.

The Trump administration saw Columbia’s reaction not as cooperation, but as weakness.

Harvard took note:

Capitulation doesn’t buy peace, it only opens the door for more invasive control.

2. The Deeper Lesson (The Trump Administration’s Mistake):

Overplaying your hand weakens your grip.

Initially, the Trump administration was winning. Elite institutions were scrambling to appease them, but instead of taking advantage of this moment in power by securing long-term dominance, for example by extracting key symbolic concessions, they went too far, too fast.

In power terms, they revealed their hunger.

They made it too obvious they were using state power to punish ideological enemies. That arrogance united opposition and triggered Harvard’s countersuit.

When you push past the fear threshold, the governed stop fearing you.

3. The Core Power Principle (What We All Learned From This Showdown):

Power thrives on perception.

It’s not just about what you do, it’s how it's received and interpreted. A power move that’s too greedy or too punitive invites rebellion.

• Columbia’s mistake was misjudging what would satisfy power.
• The administration’s mistake was misjudging how far fear would carry them.
• Harvard’s insight was understanding that when power starts bluffing too hard, calling it becomes a risk worth taking.

Key Insights:

This lawsuit isn’t just about money. It’s about setting a legal precedent: that federal funding cannot be used as a tool of political coercion against universities.

So Harvard drew a line, not just to protect funding, but to reassert institutional sovereignty. Harvard is essentially betting that the only way to stop the pressure campaign is to push back hard, and publicly. It also signals to other universities that federal overreach can be legally challenged.

We are watching a live experiment in the psychology of dominance, submission, and institutional courage. And like all power games, it’s as much about narrative and timing as it is about action.

If you’ve ever navigated power dynamics, whether at work, at home, or in the world then you know this:

The moment you stop playing defense and start standing your ground, the entire landscape shifts.

It’s a lesson I’m sitting with deeply.

References:

1. Horowitch, Rose. “What Harvard Learned From Columbia’s Mistake.” The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/harvard-chooses-defiance/682457/.

2. Betts, Anna. “The showdown between Harvard and the White House – day by day.” The Guardian, 19 Apr. 2025, www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/19/harvard-trump-administration-timeline.

3. Allen, Jonathan. “After Harvard rejects US demands, Trump adds new threat.” Reuters, 16 Apr. 2025, www.reuters.com/world/us/after-harvard-rejects-trump-demands-columbia-still-talks-over-federal-funding-2025-04-15/.

4. Closson, Troy. “Columbia Agrees to Trump’s Demands After Federal Funds Are Stripped.” The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/nyregion/columbia-response-trump-demands.html.

5. Gyamfi Asiedu, Kwasi. “Harvard Sues Trump Administration over $2B Funding Freeze.” BBC News, 21 Apr. 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4grwkyxgjwo.