Trump Admin Freezes $2.3 Billion In Harvard Funding

The U.S. Department of Education has suspended $2.3 billion in funding to Harvard University after the school resisted federal pressure to alter its approach to handling antisemitism and diversity initiatives on campus.

According to Reuters, the Trump administration froze the funds after Harvard rejected requests from the White House to scale back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The Department of Education announced Monday that the freeze includes $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in federal contracts previously allocated to the university.

“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges—that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” said the department’s task force on combating antisemitism.

Although Harvard has not formally responded in detail to the funding halt, the standoff underscores a growing rift between elite institutions and the federal government over issues of free speech, diversity, and civil rights enforcement on campus.

The funding freeze was revealed shortly after Harvard President Alan Garber made clear the university would not meet the administration’s demands regarding protest regulations, DEI programs, or its handling of antisemitism.

“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 stated.

Harvard’s legal team has also challenged the federal demands, arguing that the administration’s requirements exceed legal boundaries, and that the university “is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”

The Trump administration had recently warned Harvard that nearly $9 billion in federal support could be in jeopardy unless the university adopted sweeping reforms.

Harvard has been at the center of controversy since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza, with critics accusing the university of failing to adequately address antisemitism on campus.

Two days after the Hamas attack, a coalition of 34 student groups at Harvard released a statement attributing blame to Israel for the violence.

Following that, then-president of Harvard Claudine Gay, along with MIT’s Sally Kornbluth and University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill, appeared before Congress to address antisemitism in higher education. Their failure to unequivocally denounce antisemitic rhetoric during the hearing, including calls for genocide, sparked public outrage. Gay ultimately stepped down from her role as Harvard’s president.

{Matzav.com}