Trump administration cuts off Harvard University from future research grant funding

Dive Brief:

• The Trump administration said it will cut off all future federal research grant funding to Harvard University, escalating government threats against the Ivy League institution after it rebuffed a sweeping set of federal demands seeking ideological changes to its programs and hiring.
• In a letter laden with insults and political criticisms of the university, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote, “Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided.” The secretary posted the letter to social media.
• In a public statement Tuesday, a Harvard spokesperson said the university will “continue to defend against illegal government overreach aimed at stifling research and innovation that make Americans safer and more secure.”

Dive Insight:

McMahon opened her letter with an accusation that Harvard has “engaged in a systematic pattern of violating federal law.”

What followed were McMahon’s numerous digs at Harvard, including for previously scrapping standardized testing requirements, which the university revived more than a year ago, and for launching an introductory math course to help address learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She blasted a Harvard board member who served in the Obama administration as Secretary of Commerce as “catastrophic” and a “Democratic operative” who is “running the institution in a totally chaotic way.” She also referenced the plagiarism allegations against the academic work of former Harvard President Claudine Gay, calling it “an embarrassment to our Nation.” And she derided the university for hiring former Democratic mayors Lori Lightfoot and Bill de Blasio in fellowship positions. 

McMahon also alleged that Harvard “engages in ugly racism” in its undergraduate and graduate schools, but she did not elaborate or cite evidence. 

The letter was the latest salvo in a feud that has escalated rapidly over roughly a month. In late March, President Donald Trump’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced a review of some $9 billion in federal funding to Harvard over what it claimed was a failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitism.

The Trump administration followed up with an escalating series of demands that included the elimination of all Harvard’s diversity initiatives, increased scrutiny over student groups, academic program reviews, third-party audits of “viewpoint diversity” of its community and faculty, and potentially hiring and admissions changes to alter the ideological balance at the university. 

Harvard President Alan Garber rejected the demands, writing, “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.”

The Trump administration responded by freezing over $2.2 billion in federal research funding. It also escalated its threats, raising the possibility of blocking Harvard’s ability to enroll international students and pulling the university’s nonprofit tax exemption status. 

Harvard has since sued, arguing the funding freeze was unlawful and unconstitutional. 

The stakes in the feud are high for the entire higher education sector. The Trump administration has put dozens of colleges on notice over antisemitism claims and diversity initiatives. Federal officials have also taken aim at their Title IX compliance after Trump signed an executive order banning transgender women from playing on academic teams that align with their gender identity. 

In its statement Tuesday, Harvard said that the administration’s demands of the university would “impose unprecedented and improper control over Harvard University and would have chilling implications for higher education.”

With the university in the Trump administration’s crosshairs, nearly 90 faculty members have offered to take pay cuts to help support Harvard financially amid the funding uncertainty.