Chicago – April 14, 2025
Harvard University has rejected demands from the Trump administration for changes to its policies, putting nearly $9 billion in federal funding at risk. The university received a letter from a federal task force last week, which outlined several policy changes required to keep its financial relationship with the government.
Harvard President Alan M. Garber stated that the university would not accept the proposed agreement and would not give up its independence or constitutional rights. The Trump administration had threatened to cut funding from many U.S. colleges if they did not change their policies, and Harvard’s rejection appears to be the first time an elite university has stood against the White House’s demands.
Some of the changes requested by the administration included eliminating Harvard’s diversity and inclusion programs, banning masks at campus protests, making admissions and hiring more merit-based, and reducing the influence of faculty and administrators involved in activism. These changes are part of a broader government effort to address rising antisemitism on college campuses, which became a concern after the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Harvard faculty, along with the American Association of University Professors, filed a lawsuit against the administration to block the government from cutting funding. The lawsuit warns that federal funding cuts are already happening at other universities, including Columbia University, which lost $400 million in federal support.
