Trump blocks $2.2B in federal funding to Harvard amid antisemitism policy standoff

WASHINGTON - Harvard University says it won’t comply with what it calls unlawful demands from the Trump administration—even as more than $2.2 billion in federal grants and $60 million in contracts are now frozen.

In a letter to the Harvard community Monday, President Alan Garber called the administration’s new requirements a violation of the school’s First Amendment rights and an overreach of federal authority. The demands, issued Friday, require Harvard to make sweeping changes to its governance, admissions, and campus policies, under the guise of addressing antisemitism.

What are the Trump administration’s demands?

The backstory:

The list of requirements, updated last week, outlines sweeping policy reforms the Trump administration says are necessary to combat antisemitism—but Harvard officials argue they threaten academic freedom and violate legal boundaries. Here’s what the government is demanding.

The updated letter calls for:

• A ban on face masks, widely seen as targeting pro-Palestinian protesters
• An admissions and hiring system based on "merit-based" criteria
• An audit of student, faculty, and leadership views on diversity
• A halt to university recognition or funding of student groups that "endorse criminal activity, illegal violence, or harassment"

The administration argues that these steps are necessary to address what it describes as the failure of universities to combat antisemitism during recent campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza.

A protester holds a sign reading "Educate, Don't Capitulate!!" featuring Harvard University shields during a rally at Cambridge Common. (Photo by Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

But Harvard says it has already undertaken internal reforms and believes the federal government’s approach undermines university autonomy. "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," Garber wrote.

Why is federal funding being frozen?

Dig deeper:

The funding freeze is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to tie taxpayer dollars to compliance with its political agenda on campus. Similar funding threats have been issued to Brown, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and others. The administration previously cited Columbia University’s compliance as a precedent.

Harvard’s refusal has now sparked legal, political, and public fallout.

Reaction from alumni and faculty

What they're saying:

A group of Harvard alumni has urged the university to fight the demands in court. One of them, Anurima Bhargava, praised Harvard’s stance, saying it defended "the integrity, values, and freedoms that serve as the foundation of higher education."

Over the weekend, faculty members, students, and local residents protested the administration’s actions. On Friday, the American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit against the funding freeze, arguing that the government had failed to follow the procedural requirements of Title VI before cutting support.

"These sweeping yet indeterminate demands… seek to impose on Harvard University political views and policy preferences advanced by the Trump administration and commit the University to punishing disfavored speech," the suit reads.