CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Diya TV) — Harvard University is pushing back against sweeping new demands from the Trump administration that threaten $9 billion in federal research funding, arguing the government’s conditions overstep its lawful authority and violate the school’s constitutional rights.
Harvard President Alan Garber, in a message to the campus community Monday, said the university “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” after receiving a letter late last week from the administration. The letter outlined policy changes Harvard would need to make to preserve its financial relationship with the federal government, including the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, audits of academic departments, and reforms to admissions and hiring practices.
“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 wrote.
The Trump administration has accused Harvard of fostering antisemitic discrimination amid recent campus protests related to the Israel- Hamas war, alleging the university has failed to protect Jewish students — a potential violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In response to Harvard’s refusal to comply, the administration announced late Monday that it would freeze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in contract funding, according to CNN. The move escalates a broader campaign by the White House to scrutinize the policies of major universities, with at least 60 institutions — including Columbia, Northwestern, the University of Michigan, and Tufts — receiving similar warnings from the Department of Education.
The administration’s demands include barring masks at campus protests, shifting to merit-based hiring and admissions, and reducing the influence of faculty deemed “more committed to activism than scholarship.” The letter also calls for “full cooperation” with federal immigration enforcement and regulators, The Harvard Crimson reported.
White House officials have framed the actions as part of President Trump’s effort to “Make Higher Education Great Again,” insisting that federal funds should not support institutions they claim promote “dangerous racial discrimination or racially motivated violence.”
Harvard, whose endowment stood at $53.2 billion in 2024, has acknowledged ongoing efforts to address antisemitism and improve intellectual diversity. Garber emphasized that the university has already taken steps to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling last year that ended race-conscious admissions.
The growing standoff has alarmed higher education and research leaders, who warn that pulling federal research funding would cause lasting damage to American innovation. The $9 billion in question includes $256 million in direct research support for Harvard and $8.7 billion in future commitments tied to Harvard-affiliated hospitals, including Massachusetts General, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Boston Children’s Hospital.
“Universities are such an integral part of the modern U.S. innovation system that it wouldn’t stand without them,” said Daniel P. Gross, a Duke University business professor and co-author of a National Bureau of Economic Research paper on the subject, in an interview Monday.
George Q. Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School, noted that biomedical research has long depended on federal partnerships, which have driven major health breakthroughs — including Harvard’s recent work on diabetes and anti-obesity drugs derived from GLP-1 research.
“It seems self-defeating and injurious to the economy and to U.S. leadership in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals,” Daley told The Harvard Gazette, warning that the funding freeze could weaken the country’s competitive edge, particularly against China.
Harvard faculty, along with the American Association of University Professors, filed a lawsuit Friday seeking a temporary restraining order to block the administration’s move to cut funding, according to CNN.
“What the President of the United States is demanding of universities is nothing short of authoritarian,” Harvard Law professor Nikolas Bowie told CNN. “He is violating the First Amendment rights of universities and faculty by demanding that if universities want to keep this money, they have to suppress our speech and change what we teach and how we study.”
Garber stressed that safeguarding academic freedom is not only central to Harvard’s mission but essential to American democracy.
“All of us share a stake in safeguarding that freedom,” he wrote.
