Following Harvard’s refusal to cooperate with a series of demands from President Donald Trump’s administration, the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced a multibillion-dollar funding freeze for the university.
The administration’s task group said on Monday evening that it will withhold $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value for the school.
“The harassment of Jewish students is unacceptable. If elite colleges want to continue getting government money, they must take the problem seriously and commit to genuine reform, according to a statement from the task committee.
The decision follows Harvard University President Alan Garber’s statement on Monday, which stated that the institution “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” by agreeing to a number of restrictions proposed by the Trump administration.
The Trump administration had asked that Harvard discontinue its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, implement merit-based admissions, and cooperate with immigration authorities, or risk losing $9 billion in federal funds. At the time, Garber stated that the loss of money would “halt life-saving research.”
Garber stated that funding cuts based on policy decisions violate the first amendment and would “halt life-saving research.”
Harvard’s rejection of Trump’s requests is the first time a major university has responded to funding threats posed by the Trump administration.
In a letter dated April 11, the Trump administration claimed that the school “failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment” and proposed terms such as changing the school’s governance, implementing merit-based hiring, closing any DEI programs, and allowing “audits” to ensure “viewpoint diversity.”
In response, Harvard’s president stated that the school is dedicated to making adjustments to foster a “welcoming and supportive learning environment” and reaffirmed the school’s pledge to combat antisemitism. However, he contended that the Trump administration’s requests were excessive.
“The administration’s prescription exceeds the power of the federal government. “It violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and goes beyond the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI,” Garber said. “And it undermines our ideals as a private institution dedicated to the pursuit, creation, and spread of knowledge. No government, regardless of political party, should determine what private colleges can teach, who they can admit and hire, and what fields of research and inquiry they can pursue.
The letter came just days after Harvard University faculty members petitioned a federal judge to halt the Trump administration’s plan to reduce billions of dollars in funding, stating that the fear of budget cuts is a “existential ‘gun to the head’ for a university.”
In a lawsuit filed on April 11, two groups representing Harvard University academics claimed that the Trump administration is exceeding its jurisdiction by “undermining free speech and academic inquiry in service of the government’s political or policy preferences.”
“This case involves an unprecedented threat from the Trump administration to withhold nearly nine billion dollars in federal funding from one of our nation’s leading universities unless it accedes to changes that fundamentally compromise the university’s independence and the free speech rights of its faculty and students,” the lawsuit alleged, asking a judge to issue an emergency order barring the Trump administration from making funding conditional on policy change.
The American Association of University Professors and its Harvard chapter argued that the Trump administration did not follow the Civil Rights Act’s specific procedure for terminating funding, instead threatening to terminate $255 million in funding, as well as nearly $9 billion in multiyear grants, unless the school implemented a series of policy changes.
“These broad yet ambiguous demands are not remedies that address the underlying causes of any decision of noncompliance with federal law. Instead, they blatantly aim to impose the Trump administration’s political beliefs and policy preferences on Harvard University, committing the university to punishing disfavoured speech, according to the lawsuit.
Others in the higher education community have supported Harvard in its response.
Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president of the Education Trust, told ABC News that Garber’s decision to reject the administration’s requests is being applauded across the higher education industry.
“What it really represents for higher education is hope,” Del Pilar said. He further stated: “It represents hope for institutions that have been afraid to stand up to an administration that is trying to implement its will, on not only the admissions of institutions, but ultimately on the curriculum as well.”
The confrontation follows similar actions taken against other famous colleges.
Columbia University agreed last month to comply with the administration’s demands for campus policies and governance after its federal funding was withheld due to student demonstrations. The accord occurred after the administration expressed worry about antisemitism and public safety.
According to White House sources, the Department of Education is also investigating Cornell University and Northwestern University. Due to investigations into suspected human rights breaches, the Trump administration has cut off more than $1 billion in government money to Cornell and $790 million to Northwestern.