President Donald Trump has cut another $450 million in grants from Harvard University amid a continuing feud over anti-Semitism, presidential rule and academic freedom limitations.
On Tuesday, the joint task force framed under Trump accused Harvard University, the country’s oldest university, of committing “many years of policy and discrimination practices based on race.”
“A formerly symbolized scholars’ fame, Harvard’s campus has become a breeding ground for virtue signals and discrimination. It is not leadership. It is not coronavirus. It is not academic freedom. It is not institutional disenfranchisement,” the task force said in a statement.
“By prioritizing settlements against accountability, the agency leaders have confiscated the school’s claims for taxpayer support.”
The removal of the $450 million grant came in addition to more than $2.2 billion in federal funds that were already suspended last week, the task force added.
The feud between President Harvard and Harvard, the well-known Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, began in March, when Trump tried to impose new rules and regulations on top schools who played host to Palestinian protests last year.
Trump called such protests “illegal” and denounced participants as anti-Semitic. However, student protest leaders have described their actions as a peaceful response to Israeli war in Gaza, which has elicited concerns about human rights abuses, including genocide.
Columbia University was initially at the heart of the Trump administration’s efforts. At New York City schools, Palestinian solidarity major encampments rose on the lawn, serving as a blueprint for similar protests around the world. There was also a series of mass arrests in the aftermath.
In March, Mahmoud Khalil, one of Colombian protest leaders, was the first foreign student to be arrested, revoked his legal immigration status under Trump’s campaign to punish demonstrators. And when Trump threatened to yank $400 million in grants and research deals, the school agreed to submit it to a list of requests to restore funds.
The demand included adopting a formal definition of anti-Semitism, strengthening campus security, and placing one of the faculties focused on research in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia under the supervision of external authorities.
Advocates of freedom of speech, called Columbia’s concession, say they tried to erode the perspective of academic freedom and silence that he disagreed with.
On April 11, his administration issued another list of requests for Harvard that went further. Under those conditions, Harvard would have had to revamp its disciplinary system, eliminate its diversity initiative, and agree to an external audit of programs deemed anti-Semitic.
The request also called for Harvard to agree to “structural and human resources changes” that promote “diversity of perspectives.” This is an ambiguous term. However, critics argued that it is a means for Trump to impose his values and priorities on schools by shaping employment and admissions practices.
Harvard has been at the heart of the controversy surrounding admission in the past. For example, in 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Harvard University violated the Equality Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution through a process known as Race Consideration-Assistance in Student Hospitalization.
The letter Tuesday mentioned a court ruling that alleges that “Harvard has repeatedly failed to confront the prevalent racism and anti-Semite harassment that plagues its campus.”
An April report from the pair, produced by Harvard University’s own task force, discovered cases of anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic violence on campus in the wake of the Israeli war in Gaza.
Finally, on April 14, Harvard President Alan Gerber rejected the Trump administration’s demand, claiming it was evidence of the government’s passing.
“A government in power should not direct what private universities can teach, who can be recognized and hired, and which areas of learning and research can be pursued,” Gerber wrote in his response.
But Trump continues to put pressure on campus, including threatening to cancel his tax-free status. Democrats and other critics have warned that it is illegal to influence the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) decisions about individual taxpayers, such as universities.
Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security threatens to prohibit foreign students from registering with the university if Harvard fails to hand over documents related to the pro-Palestinian protest.
On Monday, Harvard President Gerber wrote a response to Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon, working on the ghosts of anti-Semitism, defending the campus’ commitment to free speech.
“We share a common foundation on many important issues, including the importance of ending anti-Semitism and other biases on campus. I believe, like you, Harvard must develop an academic environment that encourages freedom of thinking and expression.
However, he added that Harvard’s efforts to create a more equitable learning environment were “weakened and threatened” by the Trump administration’s “overreach.”
“Harvard will not be at its core on legally protected principles from fears of unfounded federal retaliation,” Gerber said.
“I have to refute your claim that Harvard is a partisan institution. It’s neither Republican nor democratic. It’s not the skill of other political parties or movements.
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