The president of Harvard bluntly rejected the Trump administration’s demands for sweeping reforms Monday even though it places up to $9 billion of its funding at risk.
It is the first major academic institution to thumb its nose at the White House’s request for concessions.
Alan Garber bucked a trend of universities settling with the president to say that the university would not allow the federal government to regulate what happens on its campus.
The move came days after the Trump administration issued a series of demands to the Ivy League’s wealthiest college as part of an ongoing investigation by the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.
These included the elimination of diversity initiatives, a prohibition on mask-wearing, and pledging “full cooperation” with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
It also wanted Harvard to revoke recognition of pro-Palestine student organizations, review its academic programs for ideological diversity, and expel students who were involved in a 2023 pro-Palestine protest-related altercation on the Harvard Business School campus.
But Garber sent an email Monday to associates, The Harvard Crimson reported, saying that it would not accede to the administration.
“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 wrote.
“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.”
The Daily Beast reached out to Harvard for comment.
Two attorneys representing Harvard conveyed the school’s stance in a letter addressed to the General Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
“Harvard remains open to dialogue about what the university has done, and is planning to do, to improve the experience of every member of its community,” they wrote on Monday.
They added that the school “is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”
Two weeks ago, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and the U.S. General Services Administration said that they would be reviewing $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard, its affiliates, and the federal government, as well as $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to the university.
The Trump administration’s Friday demands were more pointed.
It asked the school to reform its admissions process when it comes to international students, asking Harvard to screen for students “supportive of terrorism and anti-Semitism” and immediately report them to federal authorities if they break university conduct policies.
The demands also called for “reducing the power held by faculty (whether tenured or untenured) and administrators more committed to activism than scholarship.”
It also urged the school to appoint leaders dedicated to implementing the administration’s directives, in addition to submitting quarterly updates starting June 2025 certifying its compliance.
Columbia University, which has been the center of pro-Palestinian protests since last year, was the first to be targeted by Trump’s compliance campaign.
The New York City institution later agreed as part of an unprecedented settlement to overhaul its policies surrounding protests, the school’s security practices, and essentially place its Middle Eastern studies department under federal control.
The moves saved the school $400 million in funding that the Trump administration was threatening to cut.
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