- The federal government says it’s freezing $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard University. It comes as the institution said Monday they will not comply with a federal agreement tied to the funding.
- President Alan Garber said the Trump administration’s demands violate Harvard’s First Amendment rights and threaten its academic independence.
- The proposed conditions include changes to governance, admissions, hiring, DEI programs, and combatting antisemitism. The Ivy League institution cited concerns about government overreach.
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The U.S. Department of Education says it is freezing $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard University. The decision comes after the institution’s leadership announced Monday, April 14, that they will not accept the federal government’s proposed agreement to maintain the funding.
University says federal demands violate academic freedom
In a memo released to the public late Friday, April 11, Harvard President Alan Garber said the Trump administration expanded its list of demands for schools that wish to maintain their financial relationship with the federal government.
Garber stated the federal government is not interested in working with Harvard to “address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” adding that although some of the government’s demands are aimed at combating antisemitism, “the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”
Federal agencies outline proposed changes
In a letter sent to Harvard from the General Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration detailed a list of changes the Ivy League college should make “in principle” to keep its federal funding.
The Trump administration said last month that 60 schools, including Harvard, were under investigation for alleged civil rights violations.
The provisions include governance and leadership reforms, merit-based hiring practices, merit-based admissions, international admission reform, student discipline reform and accountability, discontinuing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and auditing programs with “egregious records of antisemitism or other bias.”
Garber: Government overreach ‘threatens university values‘
Garber provided the letter in his memo and said the federal government’s demands were an attempt to control the Harvard community.
“The administration’s prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government. It violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI. And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge,” Garber wrote. “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.”
“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 Department of Education’s task force on combating antisemitism said in a statement. “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.”
