Trump admin freezes billions in Harvard funding after university rejects agreement

Harvard University leadership announced Monday the higher education institution will not be accepting the federal government's proposed agreement to keep billions of federal funding dollars in place

In a memo to the public, Harvard's president, Dr. Alan Garber, said late Friday the Trump administration expanded its list of demands for schools if they want to maintain their financial relationship with the federal government

Garber says the federal government is not interested in working with Harvard to address anti-Semitism in a cooperative and constructive manner, adding that some of the government's demands are aimed at combating anti-Semitism

The majority represent direct governmental regulation of the intellectual conditions at Harvard, Garber writes

The letter sent to Harvard from the General Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services details a list of changes the Ivy League College should make in principle in order to keep its federal funding

The Trump administration last month said 60 schools were under investigation for civil rights allegations and Harvard was one of those universities The provisions include governance and leadership reforms merit hiring practices merit admissions international admission reform

student discipline reform and accountability, discontinuing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and auditing programs with egregious records of anti-Semitism or other bias

President Garber provided the letter in his memo and says the demands by the federal government

are to gain control over the Harvard community. The administration's prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government

It violates Harvard's First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government's

authority under Title VI. And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination

of knowledge. 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 writes. It's unclear what next steps the Trump administration will take

We have reached out to the Department of Education for comment. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Keenan. For more on this story

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