Cambridge, April 15: — Harvard University on Monday pushed back against sweeping demands from the Trump administration, rejecting what it called an attempt by the federal government to seize control of one of the nation’s most prominent academic institutions.
Within hours, the Trump administration responded by freezing $2.3 billion in federal funding earmarked for the university, intensifying a battle over academic freedom, free speech, and antisemitism on college campuses.
“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 President Alan Garber said in a public letter. “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
The funding freeze comes as part of a broader federal review launched last month into nearly $9 billion in contracts and grants awarded to Harvard. The Department of Education has accused the university of failing to curb antisemitism on campus, particularly during pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have taken place over the past 18 months in the wake of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza.
A Department of Education task force on Monday criticized Harvard for what it called a “troubling entitlement mindset,” stating that federal funding requires adherence to civil rights laws. The department’s letter demanded the university audit faculty and students across departments for “viewpoint diversity,” eliminate race-based hiring and admissions preferences, and screen international students for views considered hostile to American values.
It also called on Harvard to reduce the influence of those “more committed to activism than scholarship.”
Garber condemned the demands, calling them a direct threat to Harvard’s role as a private academic institution. “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 said.
In response to the freeze, Harvard is seeking to borrow $750 million from Wall Street to offset the potential funding shortfall.
White House spokesman Harrison Fields defended the administration’s actions, saying President Trump is “working to Make Higher Education Great Again by ending unchecked anti-Semitism and ensuring federal taxpayer dollars do not fund Harvard’s support of dangerous racial discrimination or racially motivated violence.”
The clash has already spilled into the courts. A group of Harvard professors filed a lawsuit last week to block the federal review of contracts and grants, arguing that it violates the First Amendment and academic freedom.
Columbia University, another Ivy League institution, is facing similar scrutiny. The administration has suspended $400 million in federal funding to Columbia and is reportedly considering forcing the university into a consent decree to enforce compliance with federal guidelines on antisemitism. Some Columbia professors have also sued the federal government in response.
While Harvard earlier this year agreed to provide more protections for Jewish students under a settlement resolving two antisemitism lawsuits, the university maintained on Monday that federal overreach threatens its core mission.
Garber said that while Harvard is committed to combating antisemitism, it would not do so at the cost of constitutional principles.
