The US Department of Education informed Harvard University on Monday, which it was frozing billions of dollars in future research grants and other aid until the oldest and richest college in the country concedes to a certain number of requests from the Trump administration, said a senior department.
This decision represents the last salvo of a Trump administration willing to use the power of the federal bag to force institutions, from law firms to universities, to make policy changes or to lose billions of dollars in federal subsidies and contracts.
In a letter to Harvard, the secretary of the United States department, Linda McMahon, said that the university must respond to concerns concerning anti-Semitism on the campus, school policies which consider the race and the complaints of a student of the administration, the university has abandoned its pursuit of “academic excellence” while employing relatively few members of the conservative faculty.
“This letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer ask for subsidies from the federal government, because none will be provided,” wrote McMahon.
Harvard said that McMahon’s letter doubles requests that would impose “unprecedented and inappropriate control” on the university and would constitute new threats to “illegally” retain the funding for rescue research. “Harvard will also continue to defend himself against the overtaking of the illegal government aimed at stifling research and innovation that make Americans safer and safer,” said a university spokesperson.
The free financing freezing represents a tactic slightly modified by the Trump administration, whose gel attempts from existing funds have raised legal eyebrows.
Harvard has targeted on anti -Semitism allegations on the campus
Trump has targeted Harvard for anti-Semitism allegations on campus during pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The demonstrations were launched by the military assault of American Israel against Gaza after the attack of October 2023 against Israel by Palestinian activists of Hamas.
Trump allegedly alleged that pro-Palestinian demonstrators were anti-Semitic and sympathetic in Hamas. The demonstrators, including certain Jewish groups, say that the government wrongly confuses their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza with anti -Semitism and advocacy for Palestinian rights with the support of extremism.
In recent weeks, the administration has started A formal review In nearly 9 billion US dollars of federal funding for Harvard, and demanded that the university prohibit diversity, actions and inclusion practices, and reprimand certain pro-Palestinian groups and masks in demonstrations.
Harvard rejected many Trump requests last month, calling them an attack on freedom of expression and academic freedom. He continued the Trump administration after suspending more than $ 2 billion in federal funding for the educational establishment, while committing to fighting discrimination on the campus.
In his trial against the Trump administration, Harvard said that government financing reductions will have “real consequences for patients, students, teachers, staff [and] Researchers “while endangering crucial medical and scientific research.
Harvard has an American endowment of $ 53 billion, the largest in all American universities, but funds are often restricted and used for things like financial assistance and scholarships.
