Harvard Loses $2.2B in Grants After Rejecting Trump's DEI Demands

The Trump administration followed through on its threat to pull federal funding from Harvard University hours after the oldest and richest US college refused to agree to a list of new government demands.

The government froze $2.2 billion of multi-year grants to Harvard, according to the Joint Task Force to combat antisemitism.

The Trump administration last month said it was scrutinizing as much as $9 billion in federal grants and contracts as part of its efforts to combat antisemitism on US campuses.

The stakes for Harvard escalated late last week, when the Education Department and other US agencies sent it a letter requiring a series of changes including the disbanding of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and an audit of students, faculty, staff and leadership for “viewpoint diversity.”

The government also wanted changes to programs “with egregious records of antisemitism” and quarterly reports until 2028.

Harvard, which has an endowment of $53 billion, said in a defiant letter Monday that it wouldn’t surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.

“Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government,” the university said in a statement.

Harvard President Alan Garber said the government’s demand “makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner.”

“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” the task force wrote in a statement.

The demands on Harvard were more severe than those at Columbia University.

After the Trump administration said it was freezing $400 million in federal funding for Columbia, the school agreed to ban masks, expand campus police powers and appoint a senior vice provost to oversee the Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department.