The Trump administration responded quickly to Harvard University’s defiance on Monday, freezing more than $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts after the university rejected demands that it change hiring, admissions and other policies.
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Earlier in the day, Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, said in a letter to faculty and students that the university would not submit to a list of demands made last Friday. Among them are that it eliminate DEI programs, screen international students who are “supportive of terrorism or anti-Semitism” and ensure “viewpoint diversity” in its hiring. At stake, the government said, was some $9 billion in federal funding.
“No government,” Garber wrote, “regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
Hours after Harvard’s lawyers sent a formal rejection of the administration’s demands, the government’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism responded:
“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.”
The statement announced a freeze on $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and an additional $60 million in multi-year contracts intended for Harvard.
“The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable,” the statement continued. “It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support.”
Asked for a response late Monday, a Harvard spokesperson referred back to Garber’s letter, which noted that: “For the government to retreat from these partnerships now risks not only the health and well-being of millions of individuals, but also the economic security and vitality of our nation.”
The Trump administration has been targeting major universities for alleged violations of civil rights laws in an effort to eliminate DEI programs across the country. Following a year of pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia University’s campus, the administration cut $400 million in federal money for the institution. It also froze about $1 billion in funding for Cornell University and about $790 million for Northwestern University.
University leaders told NPR it has been a struggle to cope with demands from the federal government while trying to focus on the well-being of their students, and education.
In March, the federal government said the multi-agency task force was conducting a “comprehensive review” of $9 billion in federal contracts and “multi-year grant commitments” to Harvard.
“Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination – all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry – has put its reputation in serious jeopardy,” wrote U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Harvard can right these wrongs,” she added, “and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus.”
In the letter rejecting the government’s demands, Harvard’s lawyers outlined the steps the university has taken in the past 15 months to address antisemitism on its campus, including imposing “meaningful discipline for those who violate university policies” and hiring staff to support such programs.
Harvard’s lawyers wrote that the requested changes were in violation of the university’s First Amendment rights and exceeded the legal limits of the government’s authority to enforce civil rights laws.
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