The U.S. Department of Education said Monday it was freezing nearly $2.3 billion in funding for Harvard University as the institution fights back against the White House’s demands.
“The Joint Task Force on Combating Anti-Semitism is announcing a freeze of $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts for Harvard University,” the statement said.
The announcement came after the university vowed on Monday to fight reforms demanded by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which has threatened to withhold billions of dollars in funding to pressure the nation’s wealthiest university to curb student protests and eliminate diversity programs.
University President Alan Garber said in a letter to the school community that while some of the Trump administration’s demands “are aimed at combating anti-Semitism, most amount to direct government regulation of ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”
This includes a request for a “review” of the student body, faculty and staff, and “reducing the power” of certain individuals for their ideological views.
Garber said the administration was informed by the university’s attorney that Harvard would not accept the agreement he proposed and that it “will not negotiate its independence or its constitutional rights.”
“Today’s statement from Harvard reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic at our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges — that federal funding does not come with a responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” the task force said, adding that the learning disruption that has plagued campuses in recent years is “unacceptable.”
“The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the issue seriously and commit to meaningful change if they want to continue receiving taxpayer support,” it added.
Harvard’s defiance comes as the Trump administration seeks to force schools to eliminate diversity programs and limit student-led pro-Palestinian protests, AA writes.
