The Trump administration has frozen more than $2bn in federal funds for Harvard University, hours after the elite college rejected a list of demands from the White House.
Last week, the White House sent Harvard a list of demands it claimed were designed to fight antisemitism on campus. These included changes to the university’s governance, hiring practices, and admissions procedures.
Since Donald Trump’s re-election, his government has attempted to reshape elite universities by threatening to withhold federal funds, primarily allocated for research. Harvard became the first major US university to reject the administration’s demands on Monday, accusing the White House of trying to “control” its community.
The sweeping changes demanded by the White House would have significantly transformed Harvard’s operations and given substantial control to the government. The administration’s letter to Harvard on Friday, obtained by the New York Times, claimed the university had failed to meet “intellectual and civil rights conditions” that justify federal investment.
The letter included 10 categories of proposed changes, including reporting students to the federal government who are “hostile” to American values, ensuring each academic department is “viewpoint diverse,” hiring an external government approved party to audit programs “that most fuel antisemitic harassment,” checking faculty for plagiarism, and taking disciplinary action for “violations” during protests.
President Trump has accused leading universities of failing to protect Jewish students when college campuses nationwide saw protests against the Gaza war and US support for Israel last year.
In explaining Harvard’s rejection, President Alan Garber stated the university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights under the First Amendment protecting free speech. “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” he said.
Shortly after Garber’s letter was sent, the Department of Education announced it was immediately freezing $2.2bn in grants and $60m in contracts to Harvard. “Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges,” the department stated, adding that campus disruptions and harassment of Jewish students are unacceptable.
Harvard professor David Armitage told reporters that as the richest university in the US, Harvard could afford to resist, saying no price was too high for freedom. “It’s a not unexpected act of entirely groundless and vengeful activity by the Trump administration which wants nothing more than to silence freedom of speech,” he said.
In March, the Trump administration had announced it was reviewing roughly $256m in federal contracts and grants at Harvard, plus an additional $8.7bn in multi-year grant commitments. Harvard professors filed a lawsuit in response, alleging the government was unlawfully attacking freedom of speech and academic freedom.
Harvard, with its $53bn endowment, is one of several elite universities targeted by the new administration. Columbia University in New York City agreed to several White House demands last month after the administration pulled $400m in federal funding.
Recent polling suggests confidence in higher education has been declining among Americans across political backgrounds, partly driven by a growing belief that universities promote a political agenda. This decline has been particularly steep among Republicans.
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