Harvard University is facing another severe financial blow — this time losing an additional $450 million in federal funding — as the Trump administration steps up pressure on the elite school, which it accuses of fomenting anti-Semitism and political bias, which for some reason seems to be the only issue to which the First Amendment does not apply.
The decision, announced Monday by the Joint Task Force on Combating Anti-Semitism, brings the total value of frozen and canceled grants and contracts to a staggering $2.65 billion. The task force, created in February under Trump’s executive order, criticized Harvard’s repeated failure “to combat the widespread racial discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment that plagues its campus.”
“Jewish students were subjected to widespread insults, physical assault, and intimidation, to which Harvard administration failed to provide a substantive response,” the group said in a statement released through the Department of Education.
One particularly explosive allegation concerns a protester accused of assaulting a Jewish student. The Harvard Law Review later awarded him a $65,000 stipend, a decision reportedly approved by faculty members. The group called the incident a “radical” move by the Ivy League institution.
“The Harvard campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination,” the statement said. “By prioritizing reconciliation over accountability, university leaders have abdicated the university’s right to taxpayer support.”
The move follows a heated exchange of letters between Harvard President Alan M. Garber and Education Secretary Linda E. McMahon.
In a May 5 letter, McMahon accused Harvard of violating federal law through systemic bias, a politicized admissions process, and “ugly racism” in academic bodies, including the Harvard Law Review. He criticized the university’s leadership, accusing the chairwoman of the board and former Obama Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker of “totally chaotic management of the institution.”
McMahon made it clear that the government has stopped cutting checks.
“Harvard should no longer apply for GRANTS from the federal government because they are not being given,” he wrote.
This bombshell news comes on the heels of a freeze on $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts in April. The May 13 announcement adds another $450 million in contract terminations as several federal agencies end support.
“Harvard doesn’t give up”
Garber responded on May 12, calling the actions political retaliation and accusing the administration of trying to pressure a private institution.
“Harvard will not abandon its fundamental, legally protected principles for fear of unjustified retaliation from the federal government,” he wrote, denying accusations of bias and defending the university’s merit-based admissions and hiring policy.
Garber also refuted claims that Harvard students – including its international population – pose a higher risk of violence or misconduct.
He said the university has “launched initiatives” to increase intellectual diversity and combat all forms of prejudice, including anti-Semitism.
But the Department of Education doesn’t believe that. In its letter, it raised several disturbing allegations — including claims that Harvard Law Review editors discriminated on the basis of race and prioritized contributors for submissions based on skin color.
Federal authorities began a formal investigation into the student-run magazine on April 28.
Harvard’s financial headaches appear to be getting worse. In an effort to shore up its resources amid federal crackdowns, the university sold $450 million worth of bonds in March and another $750 million in April.
The Ministry of Education and related agencies show no signs of backing down.
“At its best, a university should fulfill the highest ideals of our nation,” McMahon wrote. “But Harvard has betrayed that ideal.”
The New York Post has contacted Harvard for comment.
