Harvard risks $2.2B freeze defying Trump

Shafaq News/ Harvard University has refused to comply with a sweeping list of demands from the US President Donald Trump’s administration, even as the White House moved to freeze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the institution.

“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a letter published on the university’s website. “We will not compromise our academic independence.”

The standoff follows the university’s rejection of a set of federal directives tied to campus governance, hiring practices, and curriculum, which the White House framed as necessary to address what it described as failures in tackling campus antisemitism.

The Trump administration linked the move to last year’s pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, which it says contributed to the harassment of Jewish students.

While Harvard did make several concessions earlier this year — including engaging with the administration’s antisemitism task force, settling lawsuits from Jewish students, and suspending programs accused of anti-Israel bias — it ultimately drew the line at the broader federal directives.

The US Department of Education, in response, criticized what it called a “troubling entitlement mindset” at elite institutions like Harvard, arguing that federal investment must be tied to accountability and compliance with civil rights law.

President Trump escalated the confrontation on Wednesday, calling Harvard “a joke” and declaring that it “should no longer receive federal funds.”

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he added, “Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning.”

Despite the mounting pressure, Harvard remains one of the few institutions with the financial muscle to resist. With an endowment of $53.2 billion and a 2024 operating budget of $6.4 billion, the university is capable of weathering the storm—at least in the short term.

Federal funding accounts for roughly 16% of Harvard’s annual revenue, much of it directed toward research that serves broader national interests.

Former President Barack Obama, a Harvard alumnus, defended the university’s position, calling Trump’s actions “ham-handed” and praising Harvard as “an example for other higher-ed institutions.”