Harvard pushed back—now Trump’s ramping up his war on higher education

Within hours of Harvard University telling the Trump administration to take its authoritarian wishlist and shove it, President Donald Trump froze $2.3 billion in federal funds.

The trigger for Trump’s latest temper tantrum was Harvard’s refusal to cave to his list of overreaching demands sent under the pretense of fighting antisemitism. Some of those “requests” include eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and screening international students for their political views. 

On Monday, Harvard said no.

“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,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a message to the university community.

So far, Harvard has received support from Stanford University faculty and congressional Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who applauded Harvard for standing up to the Trump administration’s “bullying.”

“Trump believes in First Amendment rights for himself, but apparently for nobody else. The purpose of the First Amendment is you don’t have the government dictating speech as the Trump administration is trying to do, so I’m glad Harvard is standing up here,” he said on CNN Tuesday.

But Trump’s $2.3 billion freeze might just be the opening shot. 

The Trump administration is still “reviewing” another $7 billion in federal contracts and grants tied to Harvard. And in a post on Truth Social Tuesday morning, he threatened to go after Harvard’s tax-exempt status next.

“Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness.’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” he wrote.

Harvard hasn’t responded to this latest threat, which could hurt the broader Boston community—not just the university. According to The Harvard Crimson, the full $9 billion under review includes future commitments to nearby hospitals and research institutions.

And while the White House keeps claiming this is about antisemitism, the actual demands tell a different story: Trump wants to use the federal purse to control what’s taught on college campuses and who gets to be there. Harvard was told to crack down on student groups, encourage anonymous tip lines, and cooperate with federal law enforcement. And while the Trump administration says the alleged violations are mostly tied to the university, the fallout could hit local hospitals the hardest.

But this fight isn’t just about Boston or Harvard, the world’s wealthiest university. It’s about whether any university can afford to push back. And for most schools, the answer seems to be no.

Columbia University already folded in hope of getting back $400 million in frozen federal grants, which has yet to be seen. The university says it’s still “in active dialogue” with the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, Princeton University has had $210 million in research grants suspended and is on track to lose another $4 million for climate research programs. The school’s president called Trump’s actions “the greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare” and said he wouldn’t make any concessions.

Then there’s Cornell and Northwestern, two universities that weren’t even aware that their funding—over $1 billion and $790 million, respectively—had been frozen until it was reported by the press. 

Northwestern said it has cooperated fully with federal investigations, but if Columbia is any guide, cooperation won’t buy much. Cornell, on the other hand, announced Monday that it’s joining a lawsuit challenging the Department of Energy’s proposed cuts to university facilities and utilities—a separate but related fight.

And while Trump lashes out at higher education, his GOP allies in Congress are egging him on. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a frequent critic of Harvard, appeared on Fox News Monday night to call for the defunding of all universities.

“Higher education has fundamentally lost its way, it’s increasingly out of touch, and the tuition rates go higher and higher, so we need to defund across the board,” she told host Sean Hannity.

So, no, Trump won’t be getting any pushback from his friends. And unless universities band together to resist, this won’t stop at Harvard.

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