Harvard Rejects Trump Administration’s Demands, Defends Academic Freedom Amid Threats of Funding Cuts

Harvard University has refused to comply with a sweeping set of demands from the Trump administration that threatened the school’s $9 billion in federal funding unless it submitted to ideological oversight and dismantled diversity initiatives. 

In a strongly worded public statement and internal email to the Harvard community, President Alan M. Garber denounced the demands as “unprecedented” and warned they pose a threat to academic independence and constitutional freedoms.

“For three-quarters of a century, the federal government has partnered with Harvard and other universities to drive groundbreaking research and innovation,” Garber wrote. “To retreat from these partnerships now risks the health, security, and economic well-being of millions.”

The administration’s list of demands, presented late Friday, includes auditing the viewpoints of faculty, students, and staff; expelling students involved in pro-Palestine protests; banning all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs; derecognizing certain student organizations; and vetting international students for ideological alignment with what the administration deems "American values."

Garber emphasized that while Harvard is committed to addressing antisemitism, the majority of the proposals from Washington are not aimed at constructive solutions but rather represent direct government overreach. 

“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,” he said.

Attorneys representing Harvard, including former Trump appointee Robert K. Hur, also rejected the administration’s terms. In a letter to federal officials, they stated: “Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement in principle… Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”

The demands mirror similar actions taken against other universities. Columbia University recently agreed to a separate list of nine federal conditions after its funding was slashed over allegations of failing to protect Jewish students.

Despite political pressure, Garber reaffirmed Harvard’s commitment to upholding academic freedom, freedom of expression, and its mission to foster open inquiry and viewpoint diversity. “Freedom of thought and inquiry… has enabled universities to contribute in vital ways to a free society,” he wrote. “All of us share a stake in safeguarding that freedom.”

The university signaled its continued willingness to combat antisemitism and ensure campus safety but firmly rejected what it characterized as a coercive and politically motivated attempt to reshape university governance and ideology.