Activism
At Harvard, a Battle Over What Should Be Said About the Hamas Attacks
Harvard leadership, including its first Black president, Claudine Gay, came under fire for failing to voice an opinion, or take a formal stance against the war in the Middle East provoked by an attack by Hamas, an Islamic resistance movement that started in 1987.
Adapted from the New York Times
Everybody has an opinion.
For some individuals and institutions, like colleges and universities, the question becomes whether or not those opinions should be voiced.
Harvard leadership, including its first Black president, Claudine Gay, came under fire for failing to voice an opinion, or take a formal stance against the war in the Middle East provoked by an attack by Hamas, an Islamic resistance movement that started in 1987.
On Monday, Lawrence H. Summers, the former Treasury secretary, and former Harvard president was outraged at the institution’s failure to denounce a statement from a coalition of Palestinian Solidarity Groups at Harvard that blamed Israel for the hostilities that began on Oct. 7.
“In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Harvard’s silence, coupled with the student coalition letter, he said, “has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel.”
Gay, then issued two statements Monday night, ultimately condemning “the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas” as “abhorrent.”
On Tuesday, Gay said that “while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group — not even 30 student groups — speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.”
The Harvard student letter said, “For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison,” and concluded that as the war unfolded, “the apartheid regime is the only one to blame.”
It was signed by groups including Amnesty International at Harvard, the Harvard Kennedy School Palestine Caucus and the Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association.
Immediately after the Hamas attacks in Israel — in which assailants killed women and children — Harvard was quiet even as criticism mounted over an open letter from a student coalition.
By comparison, within a few days of the George Floyd killing in 2020 and Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022, Harvard and other universities had issued statements, claiming solidarity with the victims.
But Dr. Summers’s pointed criticism raised questions about the obligation of universities to weigh in on difficult political matters.
Since the 1960s, it has been common for the students at institutions of higher learning to take stances on political and social issues – integrating lunch counters, protesting the Viet Nam War, U.S. corporations’ investments in apartheid South Africa.
But students over the years have frequently and successfully pressed their administrations to take positions on matters like police brutality, global warming and war.
Dr. Summers said in an interview that he could understand the case for university neutrality in political disputes, but that Harvard had forfeited that prerogative by speaking out on other issues, like Russia’s war against Ukraine and the killing of George Floyd by police in 2020.
But the controversy at Harvard is “a moment to think about the virtues of neutrality,” said Dr. Tom Ginsburg, Tom Ginsburg, faculty director of the newly created Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression at the University of Chicago.
Avoiding statements allows the university to channel its energy into “more important things,” Ginsburg said. “But that’s not the trend. Schools seem to be speaking out. And that’s why they find themselves in political trouble.”
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of March 4 – 10, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 4 – 10, 2026
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026
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Activism
Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs
Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.
By Carla Thomas
The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.
The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.
At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.
“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”
According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.
“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”
This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.
Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.
Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.
“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”
The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.
“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”
Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”
For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.
“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.
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