Harvard rejects Trump demands to change practices or risk losing federal funding

Harvard University is rejecting a list of demands made by President Donald Trump'sadministration to change its practices or risk losing federal funding, the most high-profile pushback so far against the Republican's efforts to overhaul the nation's prestigious higher education institutions.

"The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights," attorneys for Harvard wrote in an April 14 letter to Trump administration officials. "Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."

"Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement in principle," the letter continues.

The Trump administration had demanded that Harvard eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, ban masks worn to conceal protesters’ identities and take other steps, including making changes to programs and departments that "fuel antisemitic harassment." The proposed changes are tied to continued federal funding.

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"Harvard has in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment," the Trump administration wrote in an April 11 letter to Harvard.

"We therefore present the below provisions as the basis for an agreement in principle that will maintain Harvard’s financial relationship with the federal government," the letter continued.

Trump has been threatening the funds of leading universities across the country if they don't comply with his demands, including Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern and Columbia.

The government last month canceled $400 million in funding for Columbia and threatened to withhold billions more, accusing the university in New York of not doing enough to combat antisemitism and to ensure student safety amid last year's Gaza encampment campus protests.

Columbia made dramatic concessions so that it could negotiate to regain the funding, drawing harsh criticism that it had quickly caved to government pressure and not stood firm on academic freedom and free speech.

The U.S. president has called the protesters antisemitic and said they are sympathetic to Hamas militants and are foreign policy threats.

Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in an email to the university community that the Trump administration's recent letter "makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner."

"Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the 'intellectual conditions' at Harvard," Garber wrote.

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Rejecting the Trump administration's efforts to reshape the university could have big financial ramifications for Harvard. The administration is reviewing $9 billion in federal grants and contracts with Harvard.

Garber said the Trump administration's demands go "beyond the power of the federal government" and violate the university's First Amendment constitutional rights.

"And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge," Garber wrote in the email.