Harvard defied Trump, hit with $2.2 billion freeze in grants

The Donald Trump administration had asked Harvard university to cut funding or recognition for any student group that promotes “criminal activity".

White House has frozen $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard after the university defied its demands over campus protests. Apart from the $2.2 billion in grants, the Donald Trump administration has also reportedly frozen $60 million in contracts to Harvard University after the school said it would not comply with demands to curb campus activism.

Demonstrators rally on Cambridge Common in a protest organized by the City of Cambridge calling on Harvard leadership to resist interference at the university by the federal government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 12. (REUTERS)

In a letter sent Friday, the US President Donald Trump-led administration called on Harvard to implement sweeping changes, including adopting “merit-based” admissions and hiring practices, conducting an audit of students, faculty, and leadership on their views of diversity, and banning face masks — a move seemingly aimed at pro-Palestinian protesters.

The Donald Trump administration also asked the university to cut funding or recognition for any student group that promotes “criminal activity, illegal violence, or illegal harassment.”

'No govt should dictate…': Harvard

Harvard President Alan Garber responded on Monday, calling the demands a violation of the university’s First Amendment rights and an overreach of federal authority under Title VI, which bars discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.

“No government — regardless of party — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they admit or hire, or which fields of study they pursue,” news agency Associated Press cited a letter by Garber to the Harvard community, adding that the university had already enacted reforms to address antisemitism.

Responding to Harvard's defiance of the demands by the administration, Trump's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said in a statement, "Harvard's statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation's most prestigious universities and colleges -- that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws."

Harvard is among several Ivy League institutions hit by the Trump administration broader efforts to use federal funding as leverage to reshape campus policy in line with its political interests. The administration has accused several universities of allowing antisemitism to go unchecked during protests over Israel’s war in Gaza — a claim schools deny.

Federal funding has also been paused for the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, and Princeton. A similar letter sent to Columbia University led to significant policy changes under threat of losing federal support, as per AP.

Over the weekend, students, faculty, and Cambridge residents staged a protest. On Friday, the American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit, arguing that the administration failed to follow required legal steps under Title VI before halting funding.