On April 14, the U.S. Department of Education froze more than $2 billion in federal funding for Harvard University, just hours after the school rejected President Donald Trump's request to implement significant policy changes regarding diversity.
A task force from the Department of Education on combating anti-Semitism announced that it would freeze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts for Harvard University.
This move marks a new level of tension between the Trump administration and U.S. universities that it accuses of being dominated by the far left.
The Trump administration has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for many universities, pressuring these institutions to implement policies and other changes while citing what they see as failures to combat anti-Semitism on campus.
Expulsion procedures have begun for some detained international students involved in pro-Palestinian protests, while the visas of hundreds of other students have been revoked. The crackdown has raised concerns about freedom of speech and academic freedom.
On April 14, Harvard rejected the Trump administration's demand to cease diversity efforts and take other steps that the university claims would stifle the intellectual freedom of faculty and students. These demands are conditions for the university to receive federal funding.
Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a public letter that the demands made by the federal Department of Education on April 11 would allow the federal government to "control the Harvard community" and threaten "the values of the institution as a private organization dedicated to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge."
He added, "No government - regardless of which party is in power - has the right to decide what private universities can teach, whom they can hire, and what fields of study and inquiry they can pursue."
The Department of Education stated in a written statement that Mr. Garber's letter "reinforces the troubling entitlement mentality that is spreading in our nation's most prestigious universities and colleges - that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights law."
The issue of anti-Semitism on campus flared up before Trump assumed his second term, following pro-Palestinian student protests in 2024 at several universities after Hamas's attack in 2023 inside Israel and subsequent Israeli assaults on Gaza.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields stated in a statement on April 14 that Trump is "working to Make College Great Again by ending uncontrolled anti-Semitism and ensuring that federal tax dollars are not used to fund Harvard's support for harmful racist or racially motivated violence."
In a letter dated April 11, the Department of Education stated that Harvard had "failed to meet both the intellectual freedom and civil rights conditions necessary to receive federal investment."
This department demands that Harvard work to mitigate the influence of faculty, staff, and students "more committed to activism than scholarship" and must have an external council audit the faculty and students of each department to ensure "diversity of thought."
The letter also stated that by this August, Harvard must hire faculty and enroll students based on merit and end any preferences based on race, color, or nationality.
The university must also screen international students "to prevent the admission of students hostile to American values" and report to federal immigration authorities about foreign students violating conduct rules.
Last week, a group of Harvard professors sued to prevent the Trump administration from reviewing nearly $9 billion in federal contracts and grants awarded to the school.
The Trump administration is reportedly considering forcing Columbia University, another Ivy League school, to sign a binding agreement requiring it to comply with federal guidelines on combating anti-Semitism.
Some professors at Columbia, like those at Harvard, have sued the federal government in response. The government suspended $400 million in federal grants and funding to Columbia.
Harvard President Garber stated that the federal government's request to "examine" the views of students, faculty, and staff to identify those on the left who often oppose the Trump administration clearly violated the First Amendment rights of the university.
"The university will not relinquish its independence or give up its constitutional rights," he wrote.
He added that while Harvard is taking steps to address anti-Semitism on campus, "these goals will not be achieved by asserting unchecked power to control teaching and learning at Harvard and directing how we operate."
In January, Harvard agreed to provide additional protections for Jewish students under a settlement agreement for two lawsuits alleging that the Ivy League school had become a hotbed of anti-Semitism. To alleviate any financial crisis resulting from any cuts in federal funding, Harvard is seeking to borrow $750 million from Wall Street.
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