Harvard University is facing another crushing financial blow - this time losing an additional $450 million in federal grants - as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on elite schools it accuses of fostering anti-Semitism and political bias, which for some reason seems like the only topic to which the 1st Amendment does not apply.
The decision, announced Monday by the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, brings the total value of frozen and canceled grants and contracts to a staggering $2.65 billion. The task force, established in February under a Trump executive order, blasted Harvard for repeatedly failing "to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus."
“Jewish students were subjected to pervasive insults, physical assault, and intimidation, with no meaningful response from Harvard’s leadership,” the task force said in a statement released via the Department of Education.
One particularly explosive allegation involves a protester charged with assaulting a Jewish student who was later awarded a $65,000 fellowship by the Harvard Law Review - a decision reportedly approved by faculty. The task force cited the incident as evidence of the “radical” direction of the Ivy League institution.
“Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination,” the statement said. “By prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support.”
The move follows a fiery exchange of letters between Harvard President Alan M. Garber and Secretary of Education Linda E. McMahon.
In a May 5 letter, McMahon accused Harvard of violating federal law through systemic bias, a politicized admissions process, and “ugly racism” within its academic bodies, including the Harvard Law Review. She slammed the university's leadership, accusing board chair and former Obama commerce secretary Penny Pritzker of “running the institution in a totally chaotic way.”
McMahon made clear that the government was done cutting checks.
“Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided,” she wrote.
The bombshell comes on the heels of an earlier freeze of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts in April. The May 13 announcement adds another $450 million in terminations, as multiple federal agencies pull support.
'Harvard Will Not Surrender'
Garber fired back in a May 12 response, calling the actions political retaliation and accusing the administration of trying to strong-arm a private institution.
“Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government,” he wrote, denying charges of bias and defending the university’s admissions and hiring as merit-based.
Garber also rejected suggestions that Harvard students — including its international population — pose a greater risk of violence or misconduct.
The university, he said, has “commenced initiatives” to increase intellectual diversity and fight all forms of bigotry, including anti-Semitism.
But the Education Department isn’t buying it. In its letter, it cited multiple disturbing allegations — including claims that Harvard Law Review editors discriminated based on race and prioritized submissions based on contributors’ skin color.
Federal authorities opened a formal investigation into the student-run journal on April 28.
Harvard’s financial headaches appear to be mounting. In a bid to shore up its resources amid the federal crackdown, the university sold $450 million in bonds in March and another $750 million in April.
The Department of Education and affiliated agencies show no signs of backing off.
“At its best, a university should fulfill the highest ideals of our Nation,” McMahon wrote. “But Harvard has betrayed this ideal.”
The New York Post has reached out to Harvard for comment.
