Harvard club apolitical

The Harvard Club of the ROC issued a statement yesterday to make clear that it is not taking sides in the year-end Taipei mayoral election in which both KMT incumbent Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and DPP challenger Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) are Harvard graduates. Ma holds a doctorate in law from the university, while Lee has a masters degree from Harvard and holds a doctorate from another university. The club statement said that "Harvard University and the Harvard Club are apolitical and do not endorse any particular candidate." It said that the club is "of course proud of leading candidates in all fields who are Harvard alumni," but wishes to emphasize that it does not endorse any candidate. The statement also cited John Reardon, executive director of the Harvard Alumni Association for University Relations, as saying that Harvard is a non-political educational institution.