President Trump’s fight with Harvard University shows how far he is willing to take his crusade against higher education, targeting the oldest and richest university in the nation.
The battle will test how far the Trump administration will be able to go after it has already paused funding for numerous other institutions and has threatened even more cuts for universities that don’t eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
With potential litigation on the horizon against the Trump administration and internal pressures on Harvard, the result of this fight could set the standard for the relationship between the president and higher education over the next four years.
Here is what to know about the fight between Harvard and Trump:
Harvard rejects Trump’s demands that go past antisemitism accusations
The Trump administration has said it targeted Harvard over alleged inaction on antisemitism.
But Harvard argues demands made of the Ivy League in order to keep federal money seem to have gone far past that aim.
The Trump administration demanded Harvard eliminate DEI, change its hiring and admission policies, and submit a quarterly report to the federal government with status updates on the changes, among other things.
“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,” President Alan Garber said in a message informing Harvard’s community it would be rejecting the demands.
After the rejection, the federal government paused $2 billion of funding, and Trump threatened to take away Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
“Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”
Many are expecting a lawsuit to follow soon, as the cut in funding could threaten the university’s operations.
Harvard is the first to fight back
The Trump administration didn’t begin this fight with Harvard.
Trump first went after Columbia University, where students led the pro-Palestinian encampments across the country last spring. Unlike at Harvard, the Trump administration struck first by pausing $400 million in funding.
And Columbia took the path of agreeing to demands similar to those presented to Harvard in hopes the federal government would restore the funding. Instead, the funding has stayed paused, and even more money was pulled from the university.
Other universities such as Cornell and Northwestern lost funding, but formal demands have not yet been made of those institutions to restore funding.
When the Trump administration turned its sights on Harvard, others in higher education were hopeful the university with the most resources in the country would step up to play.
Harvard’s decision to fight back has led to mixed responses, with some celebrating the action and others worrying this will inhibit efforts to create real change on campus.
“Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions — rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect,” former President Obama, who attended Columbia as an undergrad before going to Harvard Law School, said in a post on the social platform X.
Harvard will now struggle with pressures for change on campus while not wanting the change to seem driven by pressure from the Trump administration.
“Harvard’s fighting the Trump administration harder than it’s ever fought antisemitism,” the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance posted on X.
Does Harvard need the federal funding?
The pulled funding is expected to hurt some of Harvard’s operations, especially in its research areas.
“Cancellation of funding to researchers across the U.S. will delay medical progress and will threaten public health. There’s no question about those outcomes,” said David Walt, a Harvard University medical professor. “These cancellations will cost lives that could potentially have been saved in the future if medical research was allowed to continue.”
Many point to the $53 billion endowment Harvard holds as evidence it will be able to weather the Trump administration’s storm.
But endowments have legal obligations to go toward certain university funds and cannot be moved around on the basis of the institution’s needs.
“Endowments are made up of thousands of separate funds. They don’t work like a savings account … where you could go to the bank with your ATM card, your debit card, and take out money and spend it on whatever you want. They’re a collection of funds that are designated for specific purposes, and they’re legally binding purposes,” Steven Bloom, assistant vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, previously told The Hill.
Even before the funding threats, Harvard implemented a hiring freeze due to the uncertainty around federal funds.
Trump teased his fight with universities
Universities knew after Trump was elected, they would likely find trouble, as Trump talked on the campaign trail about ridding higher education of “woke” ideology.
The cause is popular among his base, especially against big Ivy League institutions, as many conservatives see the universities as bastions of “leftist ideology.”
“Everyone knows that Harvard has ‘lost its way,’” Trump posted on Truth Social early Wednesday.
“Many others, like these Leftist dopes, are teaching at Harvard, and because of that, Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges. Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds,” he added.
