The Trump administration is freezing $2.2 billion in multiyear grants to Harvard after the university declined to comply with federal officials’ demands that it make changes.
Officials had warned the school that they would pull federal funding if the school didn’t strike a deal with them to address antisemitism, among other concerns. It only took hours for them to respond to the university, adding that $60 million in “multi-year contract value” would also be frozen.
Harvard wrote to the administration on Monday through its lawyers, former Justice Department special counsel Robert Hur and William Burck, an outside ethics adviser to the Trump Organization. They accused the administration of violating Harvard’s First Amendment rights.
“The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the letter said. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement in principle.”
“Harvard remains open to dialogue about what the university has done, and is planning to do, to improve the experience of every member of its community,” it continued. “But Harvard is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”
The Trump administration sent Harvard a letter on April 3 with a list of demands, including an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and programs that it believed fueled antisemitism.
“We expect your immediate cooperation in implementing these critical reforms that will enable Harvard to return to its original mission of providing a high-quality education in a safe environment for all students through a focus on truth-seeking, innovative research, and academic excellence,” the letter concluded. The letter suggested federal funding would be terminated if the demands were not met.
The Trump administration’s Monday night announcement was made by the “Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism” and posted by the General Services Administration. “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,” it said.
“The disruption of learning 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 problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the statement added.
Hur and Burck maintained earlier on Monday that Harvard has made “lasting and robust structural, policy, and programmatic changes to ensure that the university is a welcoming and supportive learning environment for all students.” They also said the university is “committed” to fighting antisemitism.
Hur oversaw the investigation into then-President Joe Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Harvard President Alan Garber reiterated that the university will not accept the proposed agreement, which was updated on April 11. “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,” he said in the letter.
Garber wrote that the university itself will make changes to address antisemitism. “These ends 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,” he wrote. “The work of addressing our shortcomings, fulfilling our commitments, and embodying our values is ours to define and undertake as a community.”
He laid out how the university has addressed antisemitism in the preceding months and how it plans to move forward, including broadening the intellectual and viewpoint diversity within the community, developing skills to engage “constructively” with each other, and complying with Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard, a case in which the Supreme Court ruled it is unlawful for universities to make decisions “on the basis of race” because of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
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The university also set up a webpage appealing to what would be lost without federal funding, including roughly $9 billion in federal grants. “Without federal funding, this work will come to a halt midstream, and researchers will lack necessary resources to finish ongoing projects or to finance new ones in the numerous fields Harvard supports,” it said, noting cancer, heart disease, and obesity prevention initiatives, among others.
Other schools, such as Columbia University, have complied with the Trump administration’s demands. Harvard now faces losing federal funding, which accounted for 68% of its total sponsored revenue in fiscal 2024.
