Harvard hit with US$2.2b funding freeze after defying Trump
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More news: After defying US President Trump’s demands that it said place “unprecedented” conditions on the institution and go “beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration,” Harvard has been hit with a funding freeze.
The Trump administration followed through with its threat to pull federal funding just hours after Harvard refused to agree to a list of demands, with the school’s president Alan Garber saying that the school won’t “surrender its independence or its constitutional rights.”
The US Department of Education said it has frozen US$2.2 billion ($3.46 billion) in multi-year grants and US$60 million in multi-year contract value to the university.
The Joint Task Force to combat antisemitism, founded under Trump to “root out antisemitism” said: "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.”
Harvard University rejects Trump’s demands, risks US$9b
The news: Harvard University has rejected demands from the Trump administration that it said place “unprecedented” conditions on the institution and go “beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”
The context: The Trump administration is pressuring elite universities to address alleged antisemitism. After pro-Palestinian protests, it began targeting institutions for governance and policy changes, cancelling or freezing funding for some, including Columbia University, Princeton and Cornell.
In a letter released Monday, the administration required Harvard to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, report foreign students who commit conduct violations, bring in an outside party to ensure “viewpoint diversity,” and reduce the power of students and faculty over university affairs.
The White House linked compliance of its demands to nearly USD9 billion ($14.21 billion) in federal funding, including USD8.7 billion in multiyear grant commitments and USD256 million in contracts.
As part of changes made over the past 15 months to address antisemitism on campus, Harvard recently placed the Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee on probation, forced the faculty leaders of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies to leave their posts, and suspended a partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank.
What they said: Harvard’s President Alan Garber said in a note to the university community that the demands represent “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”
“No government — 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,” Garber said.
Harvard’s lawyers said in response to the Trump’s administration letter that the university “is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”
It added the proposals “circumvent Harvard’s statutory rights” and threaten its independence and constitutional rights.
The sources: Bloomberg , The Wall Street Journal , The New York Times , US Department of Education
