CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Harvard University will not comply with the latest round of demands from the Trump Administration as part of its apparent crackdown on antisemitism and alleged civil rights violations at the school.
In a letter to the campus sent out Monday, Harvard President Alan Garber said the school received a new list of demands from the federal government to avoid losing federal funding. The Trump Administration's antisemitism taskforce recently flagged $9 Billion in federal funding for the University for review over its alleged mishandling of antisemitism on campus.
"It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner," Garber writes. "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."
Some of the demands from the federal government include changing the structure of its governance, monitoring by the federal government, reforming programs with "egregious records of antisemitism", ending DEI, admissions and hiring reforms, and different student discipline plans like banning masks on campus.
Harvard's lawyers told the federal government the school would not accept the agreement and would not "negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights." Garber accuses the Trump Administration of violating the university's First Amendment rights and overreaching its powers with its latest round of demands.
"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 said. "[The demands] include requirements to “audit” the viewpoints of our student body, faculty, staff, and to “reduc[e] the power” of certain students, faculty, and administrators targeted because of their ideological views."
Garber also touted the school's efforts to combat antisemitism on campus.
"We have made it abundantly clear that we do not take lightly our moral duty to fight antisemitism," Garber said. "Over the past fifteen months, we have taken many steps to address antisemitism on our campus. We plan to do much more."
WBZ's Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports.