The Trump administration has revoked an additional $450 million in federal grants from Harvard University, adding to the over $2 billion in funding that had already been frozen earlier this year.
On Tuesday, the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said that Harvard has “repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus.” The stripped grants span eight different federal agencies.
“Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination. This is not leadership; it is cowardice,” the task force explained in a statement. “And it’s not academic freedom; it’s institutional disenfranchisement. There is a dark problem on Harvard’s campus, and by prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the Ivy League university, labeling it “Anti-Semitic,” “Far-Left,” and “a threat to Democracy.”
“The place is a Liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER AND HATE. It is truly horrific!” Trump said last month.
Harvard has already filed a lawsuit against the administration after the federal funds freeze, accusing it of carrying out a “pressure campaign” that “violates Harvard’s 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,” said Harvard President Alan M. Garber.
Despite its attempt to push back against the Trump administration, Harvard announced last month it would rebrand its Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, renaming it the “Community and Campus Life” office. The university said the office will now focus on “expanding cross-cultural engagement programs, supporting first-generation and low-income students, and creating more opportunities for dialogue across differences.” The change follows one of the administration’s demands for Harvard to reevaluate its DEI office.
