Trump administration slashes another $450 million in federal grants to Harvard

Harvard University President Alan Garber may want to think twice before sending another letter to the Trump administration.

A federal task force announced Tuesday the termination of another $450 million in federal grants to Harvard, a day after Mr. Garber defended the institution’s handling of campus antisemitism in a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

In his three-page message, Mr. Garber said that he hopes to continue the university’s “long and productive relationship with the federal government,” but the administration was apparently unpersuaded.

“There is a dark problem on Harvard’s campus, and by prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support,” the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said Tuesday in a statement.

“As a result, eight federal agencies across the government are announcing the termination of approximately $450 million in grants to Harvard,” the statement reads.

The announcement was signed by Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration; Sean Keveney, Department of Health and Human Services acting general counsel; and Thomas Wheeler, acting general counsel of the Department of Education.

The latest cut comes in addition to the $2.2 billion in federal grants and $60 million in contracts that were frozen last month after Harvard refused to comply with the administration’s April 11 demand letter on addressing antisemitism and viewpoint discrimination.

Harvard filed a lawsuit against nine federal agencies in federal court. Last week, Ms. McMahon announced there will be no future grants awarded to Harvard.

In his response, Mr. Garber said Harvard and the federal government share “common ground” on eliminating antisemitism, but also made it clear that the university will not bow to the administration’s demands, which include ending DEI, increasing viewpoint diversity, and tightening student discipline.

“Consistent with the law and with our own values, we continue to pursue needed reforms, doing so in consultation with our stakeholders and always in compliance with the law,” Mr. Garber said. “But Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government.”

He said Harvard took “additional steps” after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision that found the university’s race-conscious admissions unconstitutional, but the administration said Harvard’s “shameful legacy has continued on.”

The announcement cited the university’s damning April 29 report on campus antisemitism, which showed that “Jewish students were subjected to pervasive insults, physical assault, and intimidation, with no meaningful response from Harvard’s leadership.”

The administration also cited reports that Ibrahim Bharmal, a former editor of the Harvard Law Review, won a $65,000 fellowship despite being charged with assault and battery for harassing a Jewish student on Oct. 18, 2023, as he walked through a “die in” protest at Harvard Business School.

“Even more troubling, the HLR awarded a $65,000 fellowship — meant to ’serve the public interest’ — to a protester who faced criminal charges for assaulting a Jewish student on campus,” the task force said. “The decision was reviewed and approved by a faculty committee, demonstrating just how radical Harvard has become.”

Mr. Bharmal and another student, Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, were ordered to perform 80 hours of community service as part of a diversionary program that allowed them to avoid criminal prosecution, as reported by The Editors.

Mr. Bharmal is scheduled to graduate at the end of the month.

The administration’s demand letter called for tighter screening of international students, but Mr. Garber defended them, saying there is “no evidence for the allegation that they are collectively more prone to disruption, violence, or other misconduct than any other students.”

The Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services launched an investigation last month into allegations of race-based discrimination at the student-run Harvard Law Review and the university itself.

“Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination,” the task force statement reads. “This is not leadership; it is cowardice. And it’s not academic freedom; it’s institutional disenfranchisement.”