Harvard University won’t surrender its core principles to appease the Trump administration, its president said in a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Monday.
Harvard President Alan Garber decried the government’s “overreach into the constitutional freedoms of private universities” in a three-page letter hitting back at the Trump administration’s earlier threats to withhold grants from the university.
“Consistent with the law and with our own values, we continue to pursue needed reforms, doing so in consultation with our stakeholders and always in compliance with the law,” Garber wrote. “But Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government.”
Dear @Harvard: pic.twitter.com/XmMimXfkX0
— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) May 5, 2025
Last week, McMahon wrote in her own letter to Garber that Harvard “should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided.” The Education Secretary laid out a laundry list of complaints against the Ivy League institution, from its “bloated bureaucracy” to its mathematics curriculum.
McMahon opened her letter by taking aim at Harvard’s international students, claiming that the university “has made a mockery of this country’s higher education system” by inviting foreign students, who she claims “engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States of America.”
Garber defended the students, noting that there was “no evidence” to support allegations that they are more prone to misconduct: “They come to this country and to Harvard to learn and achieve at the highest levels, just as our U.S. students do.”
McMahon also accused the university of partisanship, citing the membership of “strongly left-leaning Obama political appointee” Penny Pritzker on Harvard’s main governing board. But Garber was having none of it.
“I must refute your claim that Harvard is a partisan institution,” the Harvard president wrote. “It is neither Republican nor Democratic. It is not an arm of any other political party or movement. Nor will it ever be. Harvard is a place to bring people of all backgrounds together.”
The Trump administration and Harvard have been embroiled in a bitter feud over the university’s refusal to heed a long list of government demands involving its policies for hiring and admission, as well as its curriculum.
When Garber vowed that Harvard would not compromise on certain issues, President Donald Trump turned up the pressure by threatening to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status.
Harvard later sued the Trump administration in a bid to stop the government from freezing billions in federal funding.
“We share common ground on a number of critical issues, including the importance of ending antisemitism and other bigotry on campus,” Garber told McMahon. “You and I have a shared interest in ensuring that American universities continue to be global leaders in innovative and life-saving research that benefits all Americans, boosts the national economy, and serves the country’s interests.”
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