Trump freezes $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard

The United States federal government on Monday announced it is to freeze more than $2.2 billion (€1.94 billion) in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard as the university has said it won’t stymie activism on campus, a key demand from the Trump administration.

On Monday, Harvard rejected numerous demands from the Trump administration with the Donald Trump administration subsequently making the decision to halt the funding.

How did Harvard react to the demands from the Trump administration?

The move came hours after university president Alan Garber said in a letter to the Harvard community, “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”

“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.”

In a letter on Friday, the US Department of Education said that Harvard had “failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment.”

The department called on Harvard to reduce the influence of faculty, staff and students who are “more committed to activism than scholarship.”

The pressure from the Trump administration prompted a group of alumni to write to university leaders, calling on them to “legally contest and refuse to comply with unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and university self-governance.”

“Harvard stood up today for the integrity, values, and freedoms that serve as the foundation of higher education,” Anurima Bhargava, one of the alumni behind the letter, said. “Harvard reminded the world that learning, innovation and transformative growth will not yield to bullying and authoritarian whims.”

It also sparked a protest over the weekend from members of the Harvard community and from residents of Cambridge, as well as a lawsuit from the American Association of University Professors on Friday.

Harvard alumni protest Trump threats

In their lawsuit,the Harvard alumni protest Trump threats, plaintiffs argue that the Trump administration has acted too hastily, failing to follow steps required under Title VI before it starts slashing grants, and giving notice of the reduction to both the university and Congress.

“These sweeping yet indeterminate demands are not remedies targeting the causes of any determination of noncompliance with federal law,” plaintiffs wrote. “Instead, they overtly seek to impose on Harvard University political views and policy preferences advanced by the Trump administration and commit the University to punishing disfavored speech.”