Ivy League schools like Columbia and Harvard University are under pressure from the Trump White House to crack down on antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion practices, with hundreds of millions of dollars in research funds from the federal government on the line.
Leaders of these universities are in “good faith discussions” with the Trump administration but haven’t reached an agreement, wrote Claire Shipman, the president of Columbia University, in a letter to students and alumni on Monday evening.
Some of the administration’s ideas were welcomed and agreed to. One of those demands was that the previous president of Columbia, Katrina Armstrong, resign, which she did.
But “Other ideas, including overly prescriptive requests about our governance, how we conduct our presidential search process, and how specifically to address viewpoint diversity issues are not subject to negotiation,” Shipman wrote.
She promised the school will “reject heavy-handed” asks that undermine the institution’s independence or damage its reputation.
The Trump White House continues to hold back $400 million in funding as leverage over Columbia University in exchange for a series of demands. Many of them have to do with buffing up security against antisemitic protests that took over U.S. college campuses nationwide after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.
The White House is also telling universities to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion practices and are deporting or canceling the visas of students involved in pro-Palestinian protests.
Harvard refuses to accept Trump White House demands
Ivy League leaders like Shipman have defended what they say are the “vital contributions” their institutions make to the country as they reject government overreach on academic freedom.
According to The New York Times, seven universities face funding cut threats, including Harvard.
Ahead of Shipman’s update, Harvard President Alan M. Garber penned his own, strongly worded reaction to the ongoing negotiations Monday.
“The University will not surrender its independence or its constitutional rights,” Garber wrote.
“Late Friday night, the administration issued an updated and expanded list of demands, warning that Harvard must comply,” the letter said.
“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 argued that the Trump White House’s prescriptions violated the school’s First Amendment rights.
He also said that although Harvard has been addressing antisemitism on our campus, “These ends will not be achieved by assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate.”
Trump reacts to Harvard president’s letter
Trump didn’t take kindly to Harvard’s pushback and made bolder threats.
“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?’” he wrote on Truth Social Tuesday morning.
“Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”
The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism under the Health and Human Services Department also issued a statement, saying Harvard’s stance “reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset ... that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.”
The task force announced it is freezing “$2.2 billion in multiyear grants and $60 million in multiyear contract value to Harvard University.”
The university’s faculty is filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for demanding policy changes while evaluating its nearly $9 billion in federal funding. The federal government is also reviewing more than $255 million worth of contracts with Harvard.
“Executive branch officials cannot coerce a private university into suppressing academic freedom and free speech,” the lawsuit states, as per CNN, “by leveraging the vast financial power of the federal government to effectively put ‘a gun to the head’ of a private university.”
Harvard’s endowment is valued at more than $53 billion as of last year.
Aside from funding issues, these higher ed institutions face tumbling public confidence, as seen in a Gallup poll from last summer. This is partly driven by the idea that the schools have their own political agendas.