The Education Department announced Friday it was requesting records from Harvard University over allegations of inaccurate foreign financial disclosures, the latest in a series of administration moves against the prestigious school, which has refused to bow to White House demands.
The federal agency said the Ivy League’s foreign reports show “incomplete and inaccurate disclosures.”
“As a recipient of federal funding, Harvard University must be transparent about its relations with foreign sources and governments. Unfortunately, our review indicated that Harvard has not been fully transparent or complete in its disclosures, which is both unacceptable and unlawful,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
The Department of Education wants Harvard to turn over a list of all gifts and grants from all foreign sources, information regarding all expelled foreign students since 2016, information regarding all faculty affiliated with or from a foreign country and those involved in the expulsion of foreign students, among other things.
Universities are required under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act to disclosure financial gifts valued at more than $250,000 annually.
A spokesperson for Harvard said its reports “include information on gifts and contracts from foreign sources exceeding” that limit, including “contracts to provide executive education, other training, and academic publications.”
“Throughout Harvard’s history, support from alumni and donors at all levels has been essential to our continued excellence in our research and teaching mission, which in turn enables Harvard’s critical impact in the world by helping to address society’s most pressing issues,” the spokesperson added.
The records request comes after the Trump administration has made multiple moves against the Ivy League for rejecting its demands to change the school’s policies around diversity, equity and inclusion, leadership organization and student disciplinary procedures, among other things.
In addition to this measure, the federal government paused $2 billion in federal funding, threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exemption status and floated taking away the Ivy League’s ability to admit foreign students.
