Over the past three months, the Trump administration has threatened and, in some cases, proceeded to freeze federal funding at several American universities, disrupting life-saving research in order to force private institutions to implement the administration’s preferred policies under the auspices of fighting antisemitism. While some universities, such as Columbia, have capitulated to the administration’s demands, Harvard University firmly rejected that course of action.
A January 29 executive order (EO), Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism, set the stage for a confrontation between Trump and higher education institutions. The EO claims that, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, colleges and universities have allowed antisemitism free reign on their campuses. In response, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the formation of a multi-agency Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, which also includes representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Education (ED), and the General Services Administration (GSA).
The first domino fell on March 3, when HHS, ED, and GSA announced a comprehensive review of Columbia’s federal contracts and grants. Just four days later, the Task Force cancelled approximately $400 million in federal funding to Columbia – including around 400 grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – citing the university’s “continued inaction” in the face of antisemitism. In a March 13 letter, the three agencies outlined steps Columbia needed to take “as a precondition for formal negotiations” regarding the its federal funding. The university responded with a memo on March 21, Advancing Our Work to Combat Discrimination, Harassment, and Antisemitism at Columbia, yielding to many of the demands, including taking control of Middle East-focused programs away from faculty.
Despite this capitulation, Columbia has yet to see the restored funds. In fact, the Trump administration has only escalated its attacks: In early April, HHS directed NIH to block new funding for the university and halt payments for its existing projects. Around the same time, Cornell University, Northwestern, Princeton, and Brown also faced federal funding losses, despite no official explanation or notification.
The administration then turned to Harvard, announcing a review of $9 billion in federal funding on March 31, once again justifying this action by claiming the university failed to act against antisemitism. The “ransom letter” arrived on April 11, ordering Harvard to take many of the same actions as Columbia to restore its funding, including eliminating its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and allowing government-approved external audits of its curriculum. Unlike Columbia, Harvard thoroughly rejected the demands, refusing to “surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
Nevertheless, Harvard leaders signaled their willingness to have an open dialogue with the administration. But the latter immediately retaliated, announcing the freezing of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts that same day. On Tuesday, April 15, Trump posted on social media that “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status” and by Wednesday reports emerged that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was considering this. That same day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicated that Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification is at risk.
Complicating matters further, on April 18 The New York Times reported that the April 11 letter should not have been sent, at least not at that time, with members of the Task Force calling it “unauthorized.” The White House stood by the letter, but did say that Harvard should not have published it and instead should have first contacted the White House about its contents.
Harvard fired back the following week, filing a lawsuit against several federal agencies and seeking to block the funding freeze. Lawyers for Harvard argue that the administration has not established any connection between its revocation of funding and the elimination of antisemitism. Moreover, Harvard sees the administration as attempting to undermine its constitutional rights, specifically regarding the First Amendment’s free speech protections, by “imposing viewpoint-based conditions on Harvard’s funding.”
[Announcement of the lawsuit from Harvard President Alan M. Garber.]
Many in the academic community have applauded Harvard’s actions, which have inspired other university leaders to pushback and set the stage for an even more explosive showdown between Trump and higher education. For example, Columbia leadership has adopted a stronger stance moving forward in their negotiations with the Trump administration. Furthermore, faculty across the country have been organizing, using strength in numbers to resist Trump’s overreach. Nearly 5,000 faculty members have signed an open letter focused on defending institutional autonomy, student and faculty safety, and academic freedom. Other universities are working together to form Mutual Defense Compacts in Defense of Academic Freedom, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise.
The Biden-Harris Strategy to Counter Antisemitism
By way of contrast, in May 2023, the Biden-Harris administration released the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which outlined a comprehensive, deliberative approach to fighting antisemitism in the United States, and not just on college and university campuses. The strategy included four pillars that “address key themes and threats raised by over 1,000 diverse stakeholders across the Jewish community and beyond”:
- Increase awareness and understanding of antisemitism, including its threat to America, and broaden appreciation of Jewish American heritage.
- Improve safety and security for Jewish communities.
- Reverse the normalization of antisemitism and counter antisemitic discrimination.
- Build cross-community solidarity and collective action to counter hate.
This plan brought together over two dozen federal agencies to engage in more than 100 meaningful actions. Perhaps most notably, the plan called for federal agencies to incorporate antisemitism awareness into their DEI programs, the very programs that the Trump administration seeks to eliminate both in and outside the federal government, including at private universities.
