Harvard University is refusing to bow to a list of demands put forth by the administration of President Donald Trump.
In a letter shared Monday, Harvard President Alan Garber rejected a list of institutional changes demanded by team Trump. Garber wrote his university “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” in the face of threats to its federal funding.
A letter from the Department of Education sent last week threatened federal grants to the nation’s oldest university. It demanded that the university nix any diversity, equity and inclusion programs and combat alleged antisemitism on campus. The letter also asked the college to put in place hiring and admissions reforms that would pass muster with the Trump admin, an obvious Trojan horse meant to usher in more right-wing professors at the institution.
The letter targeted specific programs at the university for special scrutiny, under the guise of fighting antisemitism. These included the university’s Middle Eastern Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures programs, as well as the school for Public Health.
“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 responded. “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.”
Harvard’s defiant response came less than a month after Columbia University cratered to the Trump administration’s demands to disciple students. The university where detained activist Mahmoud Khalil helped organize pro-Palestine protests caved after the Department of Education threatened to pull $400 million in federal funds.
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