The administration of US President Donald Trump has stripped another $450 million in federal grants from Harvard University, intensifying a months-long standoff over campus protests, alleged anti-Semitism, and the limits of academic freedom in America’s top universities.
The funding cut, announced Tuesday by a joint task force created under Trump, follows the suspension of more than $2.2 billion in federal support last week. The task force accused Harvard of maintaining a “long-standing policy and practice of discriminating on the basis of race” and fostering what it called “institutional disenfranchisement.”
“Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination,” the task force said in a scathing statement. “This is not leadership; it is cowardice. And it’s not academic freedom; it’s institutional disenfranchisement.”
The escalating feud stems from Trump’s effort to assert greater federal oversight of elite universities, particularly those that have hosted pro-Palestinian protests in response to Israel’s war in Gaza. Trump has labeled such demonstrations “illegal” and accused participants of promoting anti-Semitism — claims student leaders firmly deny, describing their actions as peaceful opposition to human rights abuses in the region.
Harvard’s refusal to comply with an April 11 list of federal demands, which included revamping its disciplinary system, eliminating diversity initiatives, and submitting to external oversight of perceived anti-Semitic content — triggered the latest round of financial retaliation. The demands also called for vague “structural and personnel changes” to encourage “viewpoint diversity,” a term critics argue is a pretext for ideological control.
Harvard President Alan Garber rejected the administration’s terms, arguing that they amount to government overreach. In a pointed letter to Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, Garber defended the university’s independence and its commitment to intellectual freedom.
“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,” Garber wrote.
“Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government.”
The conflict mirrors a similar standoff earlier this year between the Trump administration and Columbia University, which was the first Ivy League institution to see large-scale Palestine solidarity encampments on campus. After the arrest of protest leader Mahmoud Khalil and the revocation of his student visa, Columbia agreed to a set of federal demands to restore $400 million in suspended funding — a move free speech advocates called a capitulation.
While Harvard has faced its own challenges, including a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that its use of race in admissions violated the Constitution, the latest conflict touches broader issues of governance and the role of political power in academic settings. Trump’s critics warn that threatening Harvard’s tax-exempt status or using federal agencies like the IRS or DHS to influence policy decisions violates legal norms.
Meanwhile, internal reviews at Harvard have found cases of both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim harassment following the Gaza protests, adding complexity to an already polarized issue.
In his letter, Garber acknowledged common ground with federal officials on combating campus bigotry but warned against politicizing the mission of education. “We should embrace a multiplicity of viewpoints,” he wrote, “but our efforts to do so are being undermined by this administration’s overreach.”
As tensions mount, the future of federal funding, student mobility, and academic autonomy at America’s most prestigious institutions hangs in the balance.
Trump Administration Slashes $450M in Harvard Grants Following Escalating Clash Over Anti-Semitism, Academic Freedom
Excerpt: The Trump administration has slashed $450M in grants from Harvard amid escalating tensions over anti-Semitism and academic freedom.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has stripped another $450 million in federal grants from Harvard University, intensifying a months-long standoff over campus protests, alleged anti-Semitism, and the limits of academic freedom in America’s top universities.
The funding cut, announced Tuesday by a joint task force created under Trump, follows the suspension of more than $2.2 billion in federal support last week. The task force accused Harvard of maintaining a “long-standing policy and practice of discriminating on the basis of race” and fostering what it called “institutional disenfranchisement.”
“Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination,” the task force said in a scathing statement. “This is not leadership; it is cowardice. And it’s not academic freedom; it’s institutional disenfranchisement.”
The escalating feud stems from Trump’s effort to assert greater federal oversight of elite universities, particularly those that have hosted pro-Palestinian protests in response to Israel’s war in Gaza. Trump has labeled such demonstrations “illegal” and accused participants of promoting anti-Semitism — claims student leaders firmly deny, describing their actions as peaceful opposition to human rights abuses in the region.
Harvard’s refusal to comply with an April 11 list of federal demands, which included revamping its disciplinary system, eliminating diversity initiatives, and submitting to external oversight of perceived anti-Semitic content — triggered the latest round of financial retaliation. The demands also called for vague “structural and personnel changes” to encourage “viewpoint diversity,” a term critics argue is a pretext for ideological control.
Harvard President Alan Garber rejected the administration’s terms, arguing that they amount to government overreach. In a pointed letter to Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, Garber defended the university’s independence and its commitment to intellectual freedom.
“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,” Garber wrote.
“Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government.”
The conflict mirrors a similar standoff earlier this year between the Trump administration and Columbia University, which was the first Ivy League institution to see large-scale Palestine solidarity encampments on campus. After the arrest of protest leader Mahmoud Khalil and the revocation of his student visa, Columbia agreed to a set of federal demands to restore $400 million in suspended funding — a move free speech advocates called a capitulation.
While Harvard has faced its own challenges, including a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that its use of race in admissions violated the Constitution, the latest conflict touches broader issues of governance and the role of political power in academic settings. Trump’s critics warn that threatening Harvard’s tax-exempt status or using federal agencies like the IRS or DHS to influence policy decisions violates legal norms.
Meanwhile, internal reviews at Harvard have found cases of both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim harassment following the Gaza protests, adding complexity to an already polarized issue.
In his letter, Garber acknowledged common ground with federal officials on combating campus bigotry but warned against politicizing the mission of education. “We should embrace a multiplicity of viewpoints,” he wrote, “but our efforts to do so are being undermined by this administration’s overreach.”
As tensions mount, the future of federal funding, student mobility, and academic autonomy at America’s most prestigious institutions hangs in the balance.
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