U.S. Government Freezes $2.2-B In Harvard Grants Over Activism Clash

The U.S. federal government is freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University, after the school said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to curb campus activism, Michael Casey reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Critics say the administration has normalized using federal funding as leverage to enforce political conformity on campuses.

In a letter, the administration demanded sweeping reforms to Harvard’s governance, admissions policies, and recognition of student organizations. The government warned that nearly $9 billion in federal funding was at risk if Harvard failed to comply.

Harvard President Alan Garber responded defiantly: “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. 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 noted that the university had already implemented reforms to combat antisemitism but said many of the government’s demands appeared to target broader academic freedoms.

The funding freeze marks the seventh such action taken by the Trump administration against elite universities — six of them Ivy League schools. Columbia University was the first to comply under the threat of losing billions.

Others facing funding pauses include the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Princeton, Cornell, and Northwestern.

Critics say the administration has normalized using federal funding as leverage to enforce political conformity on campuses, according to reporting by The New York Times, CNN, and Reuters.