On Monday, the Trump administration quickly took action to punish Harvard University after it refused to comply with a list of federal government demands that the institution deemed illegal.
On Monday evening, federal authorities announced they would freeze Harvard's multi-year grants totaling $2.2 billion, as well as a $60 million contract, writes The New York Times. Harvard became the first university to refuse the administration's demands, leading to a confrontation between the federal government and the country's wealthiest university, which called the demands illegal.
On Friday, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard demanding the university reduce the powers of students and faculty in managing university affairs; immediately report foreign students violating conduct rules to federal authorities; and engage a third-party organization to ensure "diversity of views" on each academic faculty. The administration did not specify what it meant by diversity of views, but the publication suggests it pertains to political views.
Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York who questioned university leaders over allegations of tolerating anti-Semitism on campus, stated that the Trump administration should "defund Harvard" for defying the federal government.
"No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom to admit and hire, or which areas of study and research they can conduct," said Harvard President Alan Garber on Monday. He also stated that "the university will not relinquish its independence and its constitutional rights," adding that "neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."
The announcement of the funding freeze was made by members of the federal task force on combating anti-Semitism, which is largely behind efforts to combat educational institutions.
In March, the administration stated it was reviewing federal contracts worth $256 million for Harvard and another $8.7 billion it referred to as "multi-year grant commitments." The statement also mentioned that Harvard had not done enough to combat anti-Semitism on campus. On Monday, Harvard stated that over the past 15 months, it had already made significant changes to improve the campus climate and counter anti-Semitism, including disciplinary measures against students violating university policy, allocating resources to programs promoting ideological diversity, and enhancing security levels.
Last month, over 800 Harvard faculty members signed a letter urging the university to "organize a coordinated response to these anti-democratic attacks."
Last week, a group of Harvard faculty filed a lawsuit seeking to prohibit the administration from stripping the university of federal funding.
On Monday, nine major research universities and three university associations filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration demanding the restoration of $400 million in funding that the Department of Energy canceled last week.
In his statement, Michael I. Kotlikoff, president of Cornell University, one of the institutions joining the lawsuit, said the research in question is "vital to national security, American manufacturing, economic competitiveness, and progress toward energy independence."
Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has actively pursued universities, stating it is investigating dozens of educational institutions to root out efforts to ensure diversity and, as it says, "rampant anti-Semitism on campuses." Officials have suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funds at universities across the country.
Photo: The New York Times