The Trump administration has halted approximately $2.3 billion in federal funding allocated to Harvard University following the school’s refusal to comply with directives from the White House targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, Reuters reported.
According to an announcement on Monday from the US Department of Education, the decision encompasses a freeze on $2.2 billion in grant money, as well as $60 million in federal contracts previously designated for the Ivy League institution.
“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges—that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” stated the department’s task force on combating antisemitism,” announced the US Department of Education.
While Harvard has not issued a detailed public response to the funding suspension, the dispute marks a significant escalation in tensions between the federal government and elite universities over the direction and governance of campus policies related to diversity and civil rights compliance.
Now, with no government funding, and Harvard stating no government should dictate to it what it can teach and who it can admit and hire, it will be interesting to see what lessons, if any, they learn from this. Will this storied Ivy League institution now become a haven for anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred? So far, they haven’t passed the test of understanding the fine line between free speech and hate.