Harvard University president Alan Garber sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon Monday asking for the ability to address issues on campus, such as antisemitism and discrimination, without federal oversight, prompting the Trump administration to revoke additional grants from the school Tuesday.
Garber’s letter highlighted Harvard’s shared interest in tackling discrimination but argued that the administration’s recent decision to cut over $2 billion in federal grants from the school — due to its alleged failure to protect Jewish students and continued use of affirmative action policies — harmed its independence and ability to institute change. While Garber recently promised to address the problems identified by the Department of Education (ED), he declined to bend the knee to the department’s prior demands, stating the school had its own plan for dealing with the situation, resulting in the administration cutting an additional $450 million in federal grants.
“[W]e share common ground on a number of critical issues, including the importance of ending antisemitism and other bigotry on campus. Like you, I believe that Harvard must foster an academic environment that encourages freedom of thought and expression, and that we should embrace a multiplicity of viewpoints rather than focusing our attention on narrow orthodoxies,” Garber’s letter reads. “Harvard’s efforts to achieve these goals are undermined and threatened by the federal government’s overreach into the constitutional freedoms of private universities and its continuing disregard of Harvard’s compliance with the law. It ignores the many meaningful steps we have taken and will continue to take to live up to our principles and improve the lives of people across the country and throughout the world.”
In a joint statement released Tuesday by the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, ED, alongside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and General Services Administration (GSA), declined Harvard’s negotiations, stating the school had a “shameful legacy” of failing to comply with civil rights laws.
“Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus,” the task force said. “Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination. This is not leadership; it is cowardice. And it’s not academic freedom; it’s institutional disenfranchisement. There is a dark problem on Harvard’s campus, and by prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”
“As a result, eight federal agencies across the government are announcing the termination of approximately $450 million in grants to Harvard, which is in addition to the $2.2 billion that was terminated last week,” the statement continued. ED also stated recently that the school no longer qualifies for any future grants.
An internal investigation at the Ivy League institution found that more than a quarter of Jewish students felt “physically unsafe” on campus and “Almost 60% of Jewish students reported experiencing ‘discrimination, stereotyping, or negative bias.’” It also stated “Certain Harvard Schools, departments, institutes, centers, and instructors were described [by Jewish students and staff] as promoting or tolerating anti-Israeli critiques that blend into animosity towards Jews.”
The university found itself on the federal government’s radar after a September 2024 congressional investigation revealed “Harvard failed” to enforce meaningful punishment on nearly 70 students who were involved in a multi-day pro-Hamas encampment during the previous spring semester. Demonstrators at the school also disrupted classes and occupied a campus building.
Harvard did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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