Donald Trump is going after elite colleges by threatening their federal grant money if they don’t agree to certain conditions. And Harvard University is fighting back.
In a letter to Trump this week, Harvard’s president, Alan M. Garber, rejected the administration’s demands for governance reforms, including changing its policies for hiring and admissions, while also discontinuing DEI programs and “auditing” certain programs for antisemitism.
“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. ” https://t.co/8loUSLVnDJ
— 高大伟 David Cowhig (@gaodawei) April 15, 2025
“We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement. The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Garber wrote in his response letter.
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“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.”
Following that rejection, Trump took to Truth Social to suggest revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
Among those praising Harvard’s actions was Barack Obama, former president of the United States, and the Harvard Law Review. He praised his alma matter for “rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate, and mutual respect.”
Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and… https://t.co/gAu9UUqgjF
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 15, 2025
Per CNN, Harvard appears to be the first elite university to resist such pressure from the Trump Administration. Other Ivy League universities, such as Columbia, have caved to the Administration’s demands to avoid having federal research funding pulled.
As a result of the move, the Trump Administration announced a freeze of more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard. Harvard, the AP noted, has an endowment of over $50 billion, putting it in a better position than most universities to resist financial pressure from the federal government.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
