Trump administration to review billions in Harvard funding over 'antisemitism'

The Trump administration announced on Monday a review of nearly $9bn in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard University as part of an investigation over "antisemitism".

The review is being launched by the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the US General Services Administration, the latest effort of a federal task force to "protect students" on college campuses.

The Trump administration said it would review more than $255.6m in current contracts and $8.7bn in grants spread over multiple years. The statement said the review is to ensure that the university is in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities.

Harvard, confronted with an unprecedented threat to its operations, may be forced to decide how much it is willing to concede in order to preserve its federal funding.

“Harvard has served as a symbol of the American Dream for generations - the pinnacle aspiration for students all over the world to work hard and earn admission to the storied institution,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.

“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,” the secretary added. “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.”

Under the review, the Trump administration will look at individual contracts to determine whether stop-work orders should be issued. The university will also be expected to provide the White House with a list of federal contracts not included in the initial review.

This task force review comes after the agencies notified Harvard University in late February that their federal contracts and grants were under review in light of ongoing antisemitism investigations.

The Trump administration has been cracking down on students and universities over pro-Palestinian demonstrations. 

The Trump administration had pulled more than $400m in federal funding to Columbia University, demanding in exchange that Columbia change its disciplinary policies and place its Middle Eastern, African, and South Asian studies programmes under administrative control.

Columbia University caved to many of the demands, but the exchange resulted in national backlash and the abrupt departure of the university’s interim president, Linda Armstrong, last week.

Federal task force on antisemitism

A federal task force notified 10 universities that it would conduct “a comprehensive review” of their federal contracts and grants as part of its ongoing investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

The Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism was set up in February following Trump’s executive order, "Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism", signed at the end of January. 

In the wake of the political backlash, universities like New York University and Harvard University have scrambled to adopt the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism as they come under federal scrutiny.

Trump ordered a pause on federal grants and loans, which has since been blocked by a judge.

The Associated Press reported in January that the Trump directive has universities nationwide "scrambling to determine how a funding freeze could affect their research programs, students and faculty".