The U.S. federal government has announced the freezing of more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts earmarked for Harvard University. The move follows Harvard’s refusal to comply with demands from the Trump administration to curb activism on campus.
This latest escalation marks the seventh time President Donald Trump’s administration has halted funding to one of the nation’s most elite academic institutions, six of them Ivy League schools—in what critics describe as a campaign to pressure universities into aligning with the administration’s political objectives.
The development sets up a high-stakes confrontation between the federal government and America’s oldest and wealthiest university. With an endowment exceeding $50 billion, Harvard is uniquely positioned to resist the government’s pressure.
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In a letter sent to Harvard on Friday, the administration called for sweeping reforms: changes to the university’s governance, admissions practices, and oversight of student organizations. The letter also demanded an audit of the campus community’s views on diversity and the de-recognition of certain student clubs.
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The government warned that nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts could be withheld if Harvard failed to comply.
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On Monday, Harvard President Alan Garber issued a defiant response, asserting the university’s autonomy.
“The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Garber said in a letter to the Harvard community. “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.”
Just hours after Garber’s statement, the government imposed the funding freeze, according to an AP report.
Harvard now joins a growing list of institutions including Columbia, which complied under financial duress, and others such as the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Princeton, Cornell, and Northwestern that have faced similar measures.
The Trump administration has made a pattern of using federal funding as leverage to enforce its agenda on college campuses. Officials argue that universities failed to address antisemitism, especially during last year’s pro-Palestinian demonstrations in response to Israel’s war in Gaza.
Garber insisted that Harvard has already taken significant action to combat antisemitism, but he said the government’s current demands go far beyond that issue. Instead, they represent an attempt to regulate the university’s academic climate and core freedoms.
Withholding funding from one of the country’s premier research hubs in medicine and science, Garber warned, endangers not just scholarship but public health and national economic stability. He also contended that the move violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and oversteps the federal government’s authority under Title VI, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.
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Among the government’s demands: implementing “merit-based” admissions and hiring practices, auditing faculty and student views on diversity, banning the use of face masks—an apparent jab at pro-Palestinian demonstrators—and halting support for any student organization suspected of endorsing criminal activity, violence, or harassment.
On Monday, the administration’s antisemitism task force released a statement condemning Harvard’s resistance, claiming it exemplified “the entitlement mindset” among elite institutions and warning that federal investment must be accompanied by a commitment to uphold civil rights.
“The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable,” the statement said.
President Trump, who has pledged to aggressively combat campus antisemitism, accused his predecessor, Joe Biden, of being too lenient. Trump’s administration has not only escalated investigations into higher education institutions but has also detained and deported international students linked to pro-Palestinian activism.
The administration’s demands have galvanized Harvard alumni, some of whom penned a letter urging university leadership to “legally resist and reject unlawful interference that threatens academic freedom and institutional autonomy.”
“Harvard stood up today for the integrity, values, and freedoms that serve as the foundation of higher education,” said Anurima Bhargava, one of the alumni behind the letter. “Harvard reminded the world that learning, innovation and transformative growth will not yield to bullying and authoritarian whims.”
The administration’s stance has already sparked backlash, including weekend protests involving Harvard students and Cambridge residents. On Friday, the American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit challenging the funding freeze.
In their legal filing, the plaintiffs assert that the Trump administration failed to follow procedural steps required under Title VI, including notifying both Congress and the university of its intent to cut funding.
“These sweeping, vaguely defined demands do not constitute legal remedies,” the lawsuit argues. “They are instead a blatant attempt to impose the Trump administration’s ideological positions on Harvard and punish speech it disfavors.”
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