Perhaps the most well-positioned university to resist the administration’s pressure campaign is Harvard, which has an endowment of over $50 billion.
Following a week of growing tensions between the two parties after America’s most prestigious university defied the government’s directive on campus management, the Trump administration is apparently preparing another financial strike on Harvard University. By suspending billions of federal payments and threatening to revoke Harvard’s non-profit tax status and its ability to admit international students, the administration has begun a comprehensive assault on the university’s financial health in the last week.
The Wall Street Journal said on Sunday that the administration of US President Donald Trump is preparing to cut another $1 billion in federal funds and contracts for Harvard’s health research, posing the most recent danger. The $2.2 billion funding withdrawal that was announced last week will be supplemented by the additional cuts.
Following Harvard President Alan Garber’s public rejection of the White House’s requests last Friday, the additional threats were made. As the government believed the lengthy list of demands submitted to Harvard was a “confidential starting point for negotiations,” the Trump administration is “furious with Harvard University” at Garber’s conduct, according to WSJ, which cited two unidentified sources.
According to the story, some White House officials are citing Harvard’s decision to make the demands public as justification for a more aggressive approach to the university’s finances.
Up to $9 billion in federal funds could be lost by Harvard as a result of the conflict with the government. It’s unclear how far the impasse could go, though, aside from the consequences of losing those monies. Perhaps the most well-positioned university to resist the administration’s pressure campaign is Harvard, which has an endowment of over $50 billion.
Harvard Vs the Trump Administration
Trump’s administration demanded extensive leadership and governance improvements at Harvard, along with adjustments to the university’s admissions procedures, in a letter to Harvard on Friday. Additionally, it called for the institution to cease recognising certain student organisations and conduct an evaluation of campus diversity perspectives.
Harvard President Alan Garber declared on Monday that the university would not budge to the demands of the government.
Garber wrote a letter to the Harvard community stating, “The University will not cede its autonomy or 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.”
The government halted billions of dollars in federal financing for Harvard a few hours later.
The announcement was made a few days after the New York Times revealed that the Friday demands had been incorrectly and unapprovedly sent to Harvard. The demands were upheld by the White House.
