Trump admin freezes billions in funding to Harvard after woke school defies ultimatum over anti-Semitism, DEI

The Trump administration notified Harvard University President Alan Garber and Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, on Friday that their once-esteemed institution would need to undertake critical reforms in order to continue receiving billions of dollars in federal funds.

Rather than agree to the government's terms — requiring that the school take additional action to remedy its anti-Semitism problem and discriminatory practices and to take steps to prevent the admission of radical foreign students — the school responded by suggesting the necessary reforms were already underway and that the government's demands were unlawful.

"The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights," legal counsel for the university said in a Monday letter, which was celebrated by former President Barack Obama and other leftists. "Harvard will not accept the government's terms as an agreement in principle."

The government's response to Harvard's defiance was immediate.

The Education Department's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced a $2.2 billion freeze in multi-year grants and a $60 million freeze in multi-year contract value to Harvard University.

"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 task force said in a statement.

'Harvard has in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment.'

"The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable," continued the task force. "The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support."

Harvard, which has an endowment of $53.2 billion, said in a statement obtained by CNN, "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."

Contrary to the school's suggestion, it appears that Harvard — by refusing to entertain the government's request for policy changes — is the party retreating from a partnership wherein it was the primary beneficiary.

The government had asked for Harvard's cooperation in implementing these reforms:

• foster "clear lines of authority and accountability," empower tenured professors who are devoted to the scholarly mission of the university, reduce the power held by students and untenured faculty, and reduce forms of governance bloat;
• adopt merit-based hiring and admissions policies and cease all discriminatory admissions, hiring, promotion, and compensation practices;
• "reform its recruitment, screening, and admissions of international students to prevent admitting students hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, including students supportive of terrorism or anti-Semitism";
• commission an external party to audit the student body, faculty, staff, and leadership for viewpoint diversity;
• reform programs with "egregious records of anti-Semitism or other bias";
• eliminate DEI-based policies; and
• clamp down on student disruptions and misconduct.

"[Federal investment] is not an entitlement. It depends on Harvard upholding federal civil rights laws, and it only makes sense if Harvard fosters the kind of environment that produces intellectual creativity and scholarly rigor, both of which are antithetical to ideological capture," the Trump administration said in its Friday letter. "Harvard has in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment."

While $2.2 billion in federal funds are now frozen, the university could stand to lose access to even more taxpayer money.

'It has reciprocal obligations that must be honored.'

The Harvard Gazette indicated that the Trump administration is reviewing $9 billion in research funding, which includes $256 million in research support for Harvard plus $8.7 billion in future commitments to the school and associated hospitals.

Garber, the Harvard president who took over after his predecessor, Claudine Gay, resigned in disgrace, suggested in a Monday letter to the school community that the ends desired by the government — namely the elimination of anti-Semitism and the maximization of viewpoint diversity — "will not be achieved by assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate."

The Harvard Republican Club said in a statement, "It is not the constitutional right of any private university to receive federal funding in perpetuity. While some of the funding has been allocated to reasonable programs, Harvard has shown itself to be a partisan consumer of the American taxpayer dollar."

Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, noted, "Harvard and other universities are violating civil rights law and defying the Supreme Court as well. The Trump administration is well within its rights to withhold funding."

"If Harvard would like more 'independence,' it is free to follow Hillsdale College and refuse to accept federal funds," wrote Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute. "Until then, it has reciprocal obligations that must be honored."

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