The resignation is coerced under threat by the president, to terminate funding and student visas. Ostensibly the resignation avoids that.
However, the president is an untrustworthy liar. It stands to reason threats, and arbitrarily carrying them out, will proceed against any university at any time.
The media loves it, but wish more universities were taking Harvard’s tack (and recognize that that may be harder for public universities with smaller funding banks).
