In an unprecedented clash between academia and the White House, the Trump administration has frozen over $2.3 billion in federal funding to Harvard University, escalating a bitter standoff over free speech, campus activism, and diversity programmes.
The freeze encompasses $2.2 billion in grants and an additional $60 million in federal contracts, according to the Department of Education’s task force on combating antisemitism. The task force claimed Harvard’s defiance signals “a troubling entitlement mindset entrenched within the country’s most prestigious universities.”
The funding halt sparked swift political backlash. Senator Bernie Sanders condemned the Trump administration’s move, applauding Harvard students for resisting what he called the President’s growing “authoritarianism.”
“The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. 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 enquiry they can pursue,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote.
The Department of Education’s statement came hours after Harvard President Alan Garber sent a letter to the university community, refusing to bend to Trump’s demands, putting forth the school’s independence and accusing the administration of overreach, according to media reports.
Garber contended that the administration’s demands overstepped constitutional boundaries, violating the First Amendment and exceeding the federal government’s authority under Title VI — a civil rights statute that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.
“These ends will not be achieved by assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard,” he added. “The work of addressing our shortcomings… is ours to define and undertake as a community.”
Just hours after Garber’s defiant message, the federal government moved to freeze billions in funding to the university.
Earlier, in a letter to Harvard on Friday, President Trump called for radical changes in the university’s governance and leadership, along with amendments in admissions policies.
According to reports, the letter insisted that Harvard reconsider its diversity initiatives and cease recognition of certain student clubs. Additionally, the federal government warned that failure to comply would mean the institution losing almost $9 billion in grants and contracts.
Garber said the university had taken “extensive reforms to address antisemitism” but made it clear that those changes must be made on Harvard’s terms, not by “government edict”.
