Harvard University refused to accept a deal with the Trump administration to tackle perceived antisemitism, saying it will not “negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights.” The US government has threatened to halt almost $9 billion in funding if the university refuses to implement its demands.
The oldest and richest US university is the latest target in a series of actions against campuses at elite universities, which were roiled by pro-Palestinian student protests after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel. The demands also aim to influence university policies with Trump’s political agenda, AP reported.
The Trump administration has demanded broad government and leadership reforms, “merit-based” admissions and hiring policies, and an audit of the study body, faculty and leadership on their views about diversity.
Earlier, the university was asked to ban face masks on its campus and to stop recognizing or funding “any student group or club that endorses or promotes criminal activity, illegal violence, or illegal harassment.”
‘No govt should dictate’
Harvard President Alan Garber, in a letter to the Harvard community on Monday, said the demands violated the university’s rights under the Constitution’s First Amendment and “exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI,” which prohibits discrimination against students based on their race, colour or national origin.
“No government — 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,” he said.
Garber’s letter said the university had taken extensive reforms to address antisemitism. “It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner. Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” he wrote.
The university’s website stated defiantly that it will “not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”
The controversy prompted an alumni group to write to the university leaders, urging them to “legally contest and refuse to comply with unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and university self-governance.”
As part of its crackdown on US universities, the Trump administration cancelled $400 million in federal money to Columbia University in March and has frozen dozens of research contracts at Princeton, Cornell, and Northwestern universities. A $175 million funding to the University of Pennsylvania was also suspended because it allowed a transgender athlete to compete on its women’s swim team several years ago.
