April 15, 2025
Harvard University Standing Up To Trump Results In $2B in Grants Being Frozen
Harvard’s President, Alan Garber, announced that the university would not submit to a list of demands handed down by President Donald Trump.
After Harvard University refused to change policies such as hiring and admissions, the Trump administration responded by freezing over $2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts.
In a formal letter to faculty and students, Harvard’s President, Alan Garber, announced that the university would not submit to President Donald Trump’s list of demands to eliminate DEI programs, ensure “viewpoint diversity” in its hiring process, and screen international students who are “supportive of terrorism or anti-Semitism.”
“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,” Garber wrote.
The government threatened to remove close to $9 billion in federal funding.
Once Harvard’s legal team declined Trump’s demands, the university received a response from the government’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, stating the Ivy League school is entitled.
“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges -– that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” the response said.
“The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support.”
In addition to $2.2 billion in grants being frozen, the U.S. General Services Administration and Department of Education also froze $60 million in multi-year contract value to Harvard, according to CNBC. A spokesperson from Harvard alluded that the government going against the university only causes more harm than good. “For the government to retreat from these partnerships now risks not only the health and well-being of millions of individuals, but also the economic security and vitality of our nation,” the spokesperson said.
Unlike other schools like HBCUs, Harvard feels it is in a better position financially, so Trump’s lack of funding won’t affect the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school as much as one would think. Harvard has a $53 billion endowment, more than $10 billion higher than the second-largest endowment at a fellow Ivy League school, Yale University.
Harvard is one of many schools under fire from the new administration due to anti-DEI policies and protests. After an entire year of pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia University’s campus, the Trump administration pulled $400 million in federal money, froze close to $1 billion in funding for Cornell University, and roughly $790 million for Northwestern University.
Despite pushback from the White House, Harvard has remained steadfast in not giving in to demands but staying open to conversations of change. “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,” the school’s attorneys wrote.
“But Harvard is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”
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