A federal task force announced the intent to freeze billions in funding after Harvard defied the administration’s demands.
A federal task force under President Donald Trump froze $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard University on Monday, after the school said it would not abide by the Trump administration’s list of demands.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Education for comment via email.
Trump and his administration have ripped into Ivy League institutions like Harvard and Columbia in the wake of nationwide demonstrations and protests related to Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The White House has accused Ivy League universities of allowing antisemitism on campus grounds.
Before Harvard, the Trump administration initially withheld $400 million in federal funds from Columbia and said it would not reinstate funding if the school did not change its policies.
Columbia ultimately caved to Trump’s demands last month and announced new policies including banning masks concealing someone’s identity and hiring 36 campus officers «who will have the ability to remove individuals from campus and/or arrest them when appropriate.»
Columbia was the epicenter of campus protests last year amid the war in the Gaza Strip. Students across the country demanded that universities and the federal government sever ties with the Israeli government in protest of its military strikes that have killed thousands of civilians in Gaza and displaced two million people.
In a letter dated Monday, written by Harvard’s legal team, the school said it would not give into the list of the administration’s demands, including getting rid of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.
The letter read in part, «The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement in principle.»
The lawyers noted that they are willing, however, to discuss with the administration current plans to «improve the experience of every member of its community.
