There Is Precedence for Removing Harvard's Tax-Exempt Status

Legal precedence. From Power Line: Harvard, Meet Bob Jones

Why do universities have tax-exempt status?

When I first saw President Trump’s suggestion that Harvard might lose its tax-exempt status, in addition to federal funding, I considered it mere Trumpian bombast. But Randy Barnett’s comment puts it in a different light:

It had been a long time since I had thought about the Bob Jones case, decided in 1983, so I looked it up. You can read the Supreme Court’s decision here. Bob Jones was a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and it had a policy that prohibited interracial dating or marriage. Because of that policy, the IRS revoked Bob Jones’s tax-exempt status. The case reached the Supreme Court, which upheld the IRS’s action on an 8-1 vote. The Court’s holding was unambiguous.

Discriminating on the basis of race was deemed to be "not in the public interest." That is the basis for universities receiving their tax exemption.

I am sure Harvard never imagined that it would fall under the same condemnation that befell Bob Jones University. But why shouldn’t it? Hasn’t the Supreme Court already found, in Students For Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, that Harvard engages in illegal race discrimination? Yes. That is the holding in the case.

Somehow I doubt Harvard will face Justice. Too much clout.