Harvard Rejects Trump’s Demands As White House Considers Yanking Billions In Federal Funding

Harvard University said on Monday that it would not comply with President Donald Trump’s demand to dismantle its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and do more to curb student anti-Israel protests.

The Trump administration is currently reviewing around $9 billion in federal funding that Harvard receives and could move to cut those funds after the university’s pushback. Earlier this month, the Trump administration sent a list of demands to Harvard, including banning masks at protests and gutting DEI on campus. Last week, the Trump administration specified that it wants Harvard to abolish anti-Israel student groups and expel students who were involved in altercations during the 2023 anti-Israel protest on the campus.

Harvard shot back on Monday, with its president, Alan M. Garber, writing, “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,” The Harvard Crimson reported.

Garber added, “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard.”

Lawyers representing the university also wrote a letter to Trump administration officials, stating that “Harvard is committed to fighting antisemitism and other forms of bigotry in its community,” but arguing that Trump’s demands “circumvent Harvard’s statutory rights by requiring unsupported and disruptive remedies for alleged harms that the government has not proven through mandatory processes established by Congress and required by law.”

Anti-Israel protests hit Harvard’s campus in the wake of Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. The university was accused of ignoring antisemitism on campus, and in 2023, then-Harvard President Claudine Gay refused to say before Congress that calling for genocide against Jews violated Harvard’s rules. Earlier this year, Harvard settled two lawsuits that alleged the school mishandled antisemitism on campus.

In May of 2024, Harvard punished dozens of students who took part in an anti-Israel protest and encampment, including blocking some students from graduating.

The Trump administration has zeroed in on Ivy League universities that have pushed DEI policies or have been hotbeds of anti-Israel sentiment. Last month, Trump revoked $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University. Columbia, however, has agreed to meet Trump’s demands and do more to push back against radical anti-Israel demonstrations and radicalization on campus.

Trump has also frozen funding for Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, and Princeton University.