Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has called for President Donald Trump to “defund” universities “across the board”.
“Higher education has fundamentally lost its way, it’s increasingly out of touch, and the tuition rates go higher and higher, so we need to defund across the board,” Stefanik told Fox News on Monday.
“There is so much opportunity across this country for the next generation, whether it’s in the workforce, whether it’s in this manufacturing renaissance that is going to happen under Donald J. Trump, whether it’s community college or trade schools, vocational programs—that is a pathway to success.”
The New York congresswoman was speaking after the Trump administration froze billions in funding for Harvard University in response to the Ivy League school rejecting its demands for sweeping reforms on Monday.
The White House had demanded Harvard 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.
But Harvard President Alan Garber announced on Monday that the university would not allow the federal government to regulate what happens on campus, bucking a trend of institutions settling with the Trump administration to retain funding.
“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 in a statement published on the Harvard University website on Monday.
“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.”
Former President Barack Obama came out in support of Garber on Monday, writing on X: “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions—rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”
Stefanik, who graduated from Harvard in 2006 with a degree in government, has drawn significant national attention since a combative hearing in late 2023 in which she grilled the leaders of several universities over their handling of antisemitism.
Backlash from the hearing sparked the resignation of two high-profile educators—University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Harvard University President Claudine Gay.
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