Harvard University will not comply with the Trump administration’s list of demands for the university to make changes to its policies.
Harvard University revealed that it will not comply with the Trump administration’s list of demands for the university to make changes to its policies regarding hiring, governance, student admissions, and antisemitism.
In a letter issued on Monday, lawyers for the university criticized an earlier letter from the Trump administration as disregarding “Harvard’s efforts” to make “changes to its campus use policies,” to address and combat hate and bias on campus, and enhance campus safety and security measures, among other efforts.
The university added that the demands from the administration “invade university freedoms long recognized by the Supreme Court.
“It is unfortunate, then, that your letter disregards Harvard’s efforts and instead presents demands that, in contravention of the First Amendment, invade university freedoms long recognized by the Supreme Court,” the letter says. “The government’s terms also circumvent Harvard’s statutory rights by requiring unsupported and disruptive remedies for alleged harms that the government has not proven through mandatory processes established by Congress and required by law.”
“No less objectionable is the condition, first made explicit in the letter of March 31, 2025, that Harvard accede to these terms or risk the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding critical to vital research and innovation that has saved and improved lives and allowed Harvard to play a central role in making our country’s scientific, medical, and other research communities the standard-bearers for the world,” the letter continued.
