Goodbye to federal money! Harvard runs out of funding until it meets White House demands
The Trump administration is doubling down on Harvard to adopt policies changes or lose its federal funding as the University fights an earlier attempt.
The US Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter to Harvard University this week to inform the institution that it “should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government since none will be provided.” She listed a litany of charges against the university that she says “has made a mockery of this country’s higher education system.”
McMahon made a series of demands that Harvard, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college, must address in order for it to “reclaim its status as a respected educational institution for the future leaders of America.” Among these was dealing with antisemitism on campus, end racial preferencing of students as well as reinstituting merit-based admissions and hiring.
The university said in a statement that the secretary’s letter is “doubling down on demands that would impose unprecedented and improper control” over the institution. Furthermore, that they “would have chilling implications for higher education.” Harvard claims that the “new threats to illegally withhold funding for lifesaving research and innovation,” are in retaliation for the university’s lawsuit to fight the White House’s earlier attempt to withhold funding.
$9 billion in jeopardy for Harvard
Last month, the Trump administration made numerous demands on Harvard and other universities to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies on their campuses as well as to crack down on pro-Palestinian protests, among other things.
Harvard refused calling them an attack on academic freedom and free speech and then sued when the White House suspended roughly $2.3 billion in federal funding. The administration has begun a formal review into almost $9 billion in federal funding for the university.
McMahon told Harvard that if it wants to continue on its current path that it can “cease to be a publicly funded institution, and instead operate as a privately-funded institution, drawing on its colossal endowment, and raising money from its large base of wealthy alumni.” She then pointed out that Harvard has “an approximately $53 billion head start.”
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