One day, alumni influence over the policies of their alma maters will be dissected and studied. But until then, whistleblower complaints alleging quid pro quo donations that resulted in wrongful termination will have to do.
Boston University Assistant Professor Dr. Joan Donavan's complaint alleges that she was one of the world's leading experts on social media disinformation at Harvard's Technology and Social Change Research Project just a few short years ago.
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Donavan was called upon by the Senate in April 2021 to testify about how social media platforms push disinformation that could have a harmful effect on the U.S. population.
She and her team began analyzing thousands of documents known as the Facebook Files, "exposing Facebook's knowledge of how the platform has caused significant public harm," according to the complaint.
But by October 2021, Donavan claims "the importance and prestige" of TASC's work became irrelevant to the school's dean, Douglas Elmendorf. Donavan swore that she received the Facebook Files legally at Harvard Kennedy School Dean's Council meeting that was attended by a Facebook PR exec, who "became irate when she discussed" the matter.
By December 2021, alumnus Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan had given the school $500 million through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. At this point, Donavan's complaint says things began to really change for her and her team.
“The mood changed overnight. The work we were doing turned from a source of pride for Harvard into a source of shame,” wrote Dr. Donovan. “Instead of seizing on an extraordinary opportunity to further our knowledge of social media platforms and how they work hidden from public scrutiny, the university subjected my team and our projects to death by a thousand cuts.”
With the help of non-profit Whistleblower Aid, Donavan has sent her complaint to the President and General Counsel of Harvard University, the U.S. Department of Education and the Massachusetts Attorney General's office.
Meta did not return a request for comment.
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