Trump freezes $2.2 billion in grants for Harvard after university president rejects reforms

"Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation's most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws," the Joint Task Force said in a statement, announcing the $2.2 billion freeze.

"The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable," the Joint Task Force went on. "The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support.

"The Joint Task Force to combat anti-Semitism is announcing a freeze on $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60M in multi-year contract value to Harvard University." That freeze is nearly six times the size of the freeze put on federal grants to Columbia University, a school upon which the administration has also made extensive demands. Columbia has stated their intention to comply with those demands.

This comes after the administration said they would be putting $9 billion in Harvard funding under review. The school, with an endowment of $53 billion, was the site of violent, antisemitic protests in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel. Students demanded that Harvard divest from Israel, claiming that Israel, fighting a war for its own survival, was engaged in genocide.

The administration had demanded that Harvard set about "reforming programs with egregious records of antisemitism or other bias" by August of this year, discontinue DEI "programs, offices, committees, positions, and initiatives under whatever name," reform student discipline and accountability, institute "governance and leadership reforms," as well as institute merit-based hiring and admissions. Trump's Department of Education demanded that Harvard review its international admissions to ensure that "students supportive of terrorism or anti-Semitism" are not admitted.

In response to those demands, Harvard said no. "The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights," school president Alan M. Garber said in an open letter published in the Harvard Crimson. Garber called the Trump administration's demands "unprecedented," saying that they were meant to "control the Harvard community."

"The administration's prescription," Garber wrote, "goes beyond the power of the federal government. It violated Harvard's First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government's authority under Title VI. And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.

"No government—" Garber continued, "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."

In a statement, the Joint Task Force to combat antisemitism said "Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws."

Harvard is among 60 universities under scrutiny by the Trump administration over antisemitic protests, trans inclusion in women's sports, and civil rights violations. Columbia, UPenn, and Princeton have also faced funding freezes.