Harvard protests Trump’s request

Harvard University is pushing for a series of institutional reforms to anti-Semitism and civil rights violations on campus.

In a review announced by the government last month, the agency will have nearly $9 billion in federal contracts and grants in its balance, accusing the university of anti-Semitic harassment on campus.

President Alan Gruber said on Monday that the agency would not accept the government’s agreement, saying Harvard “will not surrender its independence or abandon its constitutional rights.”

A few hours later, the Joint Task Force to Fight Anti-Semitism announced a freeze of $2.2 billion in the agency’s multi-year grant funding and $60 million in multi-year contracts.

The Trump administration has issued at least two letters of request to Harvard University, the first on April 3 and the other on Friday. One letter said the letters called for changes in governance, recruitment and admissions, banning masks, and more, including a larger review of international applicants to exclude “students who support terrorism or anti-Semitism.”

“Harvard has lived up to the intellectual and civil rights situation in recent years, and these conditions justify federal investment. However, we appreciate your commitment to fixing these failures and welcome your commitment to collaborating on the University.”

Friday’s letter also called for a ban on masks. Close all diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and reforms of multiple programs “a record of anti-Semitism or other bias.” The objectives include Harvard University’s seminary, Graduate School of Education, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Center for Middle East Studies, Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic, etc.

The government also called on the university to “commit external parties, which would satisfy the federal government with its capabilities and honest beliefs to review programs and departments that best exacerbate anti-Semitism harassment or reflect ideological capture.”

In an open letter to the Harvard community, President Alan Garber rejected the detailed request.

“Late on Friday night, the government released an updated and expanded list of requirements warning that Harvard must comply if we intend to maintain it [our] Financial relations with the federal government. “Obviously, the intention is not to work with us to address anti-Semitism in a cooperative and constructive way,” Garber wrote. Although some of the government’s outlined requirements are designed to combat anti-Semitism, the majority represent the government’s direct regulation of the “intellectual conditions” at Harvard University. ”

The letter Garber rejected Trump’s request also included a link to a legal response sent to the federal government, which noted that over the past 15 months, the university has introduced changes to campus policy and “new accountability procedures.”

“Unfortunately, your letter ignored Harvard’s efforts and made a claim that violated the First Amendment and violated the university freedom that the Supreme Court has long recognized,” the attorney representing the university wrote in a response.

In addition to freezing more than $2 billion in federal funding, the Joint Task Force responded to the institution’s refusal, saying: “Harvard’s statement today reinforces a disturbing mindset of rights that is unique among the most prestigious universities in our country, which do not assume responsibility for upholding civil rights laws.”

Harvard’s challenge is a rare rejection of Trump’s personal institutions. While various associations and faculty have spoken about federal attacks on higher education, most university presidents have remained silent, even in targeted institutions. (Only a few people publicly expressed concern, Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber.)

Last month, Columbia presented a list of similar requirements despite concerns about various legal scholars, despite the Trump administration’s freeze of $400 million in federal research funding. Since then, Colombia’s interim President Katrina Armstrong has resigned and despite the agreement, the National Institutes of Health has frozen another $250 million in funding. Although Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Colombia is “the right path” to restore funds, it has not happened yet and the federal government is reportedly seeking more oversight.

Dozens of universities across the country, including others in the Ivy League, are also facing investigations into so-called anti-Semitism and other issues, including race-based programs or scholarships and the participation of trans athletes in athletics in trans sports.

Universities with federal funding include Cornell (over $1 billion), Northwestern ($790 million), Brown ($510 million), Princeton ($210 million) and Pennsylvania ($175 million).

Harvard’s rebuttal to the federal government is because the university plans to issue $750 million in bonds, a spokesperson told Internal Advanced ED is “part of a continuous contingency plan for a range of financial environments”. Princeton will issue $320 million in bonds this spring.

Harvard University has also launched legal lawsuits against the Trump administration.

The Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday, saying Harvard’s funding review was an illegal exploitation of the Civil Rights Act and worked to impose political views on the institution.

The lawsuit states that the Trump administration has “has caused serious and irreparable harm by stopping academic research and inquiries at Harvard, including areas not related to anti-Semitism or civil rights violations.”

Harvard’s AAUP chapter also signed a lawsuit last month with other faculty groups that delayed the Trump administration’s efforts to arrest and deport pro-Palestinian student activists.