The Trump administration has announced it will freeze $2.2 billion in federal grants and $60 million in contracts for Harvard University after the school refused to implement policy changes demanded by the administration.
Last week, a federal task force sent Harvard a letter outlining new requirements to maintain its federal funding. These included ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, banning masks at campus protests, enforcing merit-based admissions and hiring, and reducing the influence of faculty viewed as politically active.
Harvard rejected the demands, saying it would not compromise its independence or constitutional rights.
President Alan Garber said, “We will not surrender our independence or constitutional rights,” adding that most of the demands amounted to government overreach into academic freedom.
A White House spokesperson defended the freeze, saying federal money should not fund institutions “supporting racial discrimination or racially motivated violence,” and stated the administration is committed to “Making Higher Education Great Again” by combating antisemitism and enforcing Title VI regulations.
Harvard faculty and the American Association of University Professors have filed a lawsuit and are seeking a temporary restraining order to block the funding freeze. The lawsuit argues the administration is violating the First Amendment and attempting to dictate university policy.
The university, with an endowment of $53.2 billion, is now at the center of a growing standoff between elite academic institutions and the federal government.
