Trump admin reviews $9B in Harvard federal funding over anti-Semitism concerns
'Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus,' Sec. McMahon said.
This move follows the administration's recent freeze of $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University and $175 million to the University of Pennsylvania.
President Donald Trump’s administration is reviewing nearly $9 billion in federal funding to Harvard University in Massachusetts over its failure to protect Jewish students.
The administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is reviewing the more than $8.7 billion in grants “to Harvard University and its affiliates” and the more than $255.6 million in federal contracts that the Ivy League university receives, according to a Monday press release from the Department of Education.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon made it clear that Harvard should do more to combat anti-Semitism.
“Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination - all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry - has put its reputation in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus,” Secretary McMahon stated.
FAS Commissioner and Task Force Member Josh Gruenbaum also stated: “While Harvard’s recent actions to curb institutionalized anti-Semitism - though long overdue - are welcome, there is much more that the university must do to retain the privilege of receiving federal taxpayer’s hard earned dollars.”
“This administration has proven that we will take swift action to hold institutions accountable if they allow anti-Semitism to fester. We will not hesitate to act if Harvard fails to do so,” he continued.
The review of funding will be jointly led by the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration.
Harvard is the wealthiest university in the world with a $53.2 billion endowment.
This move from the Trump administration follows its recent freeze of $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University.
In hopes of lifting the funding freeze, Columbia University agreed to a set of terms laid out by the Trump administration to combat anti-Semitism, including banning face masks used by disruptive protesters, adopting the “definition of antisemitism recommended by Columbia’s Antisemitism Taskforce in August 2024,” and increasing the security presence at the school.
The Trump administration also froze $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over its policy of letting men participate in women’s sports if they “identify” as female.
With funding on the line, Harvard University President Alan Garber said the university would cooperate with the administration.
In a message to the campus community, Garber noted that “we are not perfect” and acknowledged that anti-Semitism is a “critical problem” that the school will work to “address.”
“We still have much work to do. We will engage with members of the federal government’s task force to combat antisemitism to ensure that they have a full account of the work we have done and the actions we will take going forward,” Garber wrote.
Campus Reform reported that Garber issued a temporary hiring freeze in March following the Trump administration’s targeting of controversial funding in higher education, including funding for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Harvard professors have pushed the university to resist any demands from the Trump administration.
Over 600 faculty members from the Ivy League school penned a letter to Harvard’s leadership to “mount a coordinated opposition” and “refuse to comply with unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and university self-governance,” the Harvard Crimson reported.
The letter was issued on March 24, a few days before the Department of Education announced the $9 billion review of Harvard, but after the Trump administration cut the $400 million to Columbia.
Campus Reform has contacted Harvard University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
