President Trump is set to pull another $1 billion in funding from Harvard.
The funding freeze is in addition to the suspension of $2.26 billion in federal funds from the Ivy League university after it refused demands for sweeping policy changes last week.
The latest freeze will end funding earmarked for health research, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The feud between Harvard and the White House erupted last week when the Ivy League institution published a letter from the Trump administration that included a series of demands for the school to change its hiring policies, admissions, and curriculum in exchange for funding.
The stipulations were so extreme that Harvard officials felt they had little choice but to refuse. In a statement published on April 14, Harvard President Alan Garber said the demands amounted to “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”
A senior Trump official later told Harvard University that the letter was sent in error, The New York Times reports. While its content was authentic, some insiders believe it was sent prematurely, while others thought it had been intended for internal use only.
The letter details demands for Harvard to eliminate diversity initiatives, prohibit mask-wearing, and pledge “full cooperation” with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of an ongoing investigation by the antisemitism task force.
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 2024 pro-Palestine protest-related altercation on the Harvard Business School campus.
Soon after Harvard announced its decision to reject the administration’s terms, Josh Gruenbaum, an official at the General Services Administration, called one of the university’s lawyers. While he initially said that neither he nor Thomas Wheeler, acting general counsel for the Department of Education, had authorized the letter, he later said the letter was authorized but had been sent prematurely.
Gruenbaum also contacted a lawyer for Columbia University, which eventually followed Harvard’s lead in refusing to comply with the Trump administration’s demands after initially caving to some, to let them know the letter to Harvard had been unauthorized.
Despite the mix up, Harvard has resorted to appealing to rich donors for money.
“This is a critical time for Harvard, specifically, and for higher education, more generally,” Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra wrote in an email obtained by The Harvard Crimson.
Garber has also tapped the school’s biggest donors, who include businessman and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, hedge fund manager John Paulson, and lawyer and businessman David Rubenstein, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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