The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it has cut an additional $60 million in grants to Harvard University.
The cuts are just the latest chapter of an escalating battle between the Trump administration and the school over what some federal officials describe as Harvard’s continued failure to address “anti-Semitic” harassment and “race discrimination.”
The HHS shared the funding cuts via X post, sending a clear message from Trump’s team:
HHS is taking decisive action to uphold civil rights in higher education. Due to Harvard University’s continued failure to address anti-Semitic harassment and race discrimination, HHS is terminating multiple multi-year grant awards—totaling approximately $60 million over their full duration. In the Trump Administration, discrimination will not be tolerated on campus. Federal funds must support institutions that protect all students.
Harvard has been feeling the brunt of their actions since Trump’s re-election.
As previously covered by DX, more than $2.2 billion in research and education grants have already been frozen, sparking legal backlash from the collegiate giant.
University President Alan Garber recently vowed to tap into the school’s huge $53 billion endowment to cover a portion of the lost funds.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a letter to the university earlier this month. In part, the letter read:
Given these and other concerning allegations, this letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided. Harvard will cease to be a publicly funded institution, and can instead operate as a privately-funded institution, drawing on its colossal endowment, and raising money from its large base of wealthy alumni. You have an approximately $53 Billion head start, much of which was made possible by the fact that you are living within the walls of, and benefiting from, the prosperity secured by the United States of America and its free-market system you teach your students to despise.
Under the Trump administration’s directive, Harvard must cut many of their prior initiatives, submit to an independent audit of anti-Semitism on campus, and overhaul its disciplinary policies if it hopes to see any federal financial support reinstated, per Al Jazeera.
The university has refused, calling the requirements political “overreach.”
But for many outside of academic bubbles, the push for Harvard to change is long overdue.
The dispute traces back to March of this year, when a series of disruptive pro-Palestine protests, some veering into anti-Semitic territory, swept through campuses nationwide. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, many of the protests even ended up making colleges shut their doors and turn to online classes until they calmed.
Trump, then the presumptive GOP nominee, called the protests “illegal” and “morally bankrupt.”
While student groups insist their demonstrations are aimed at highlighting alleged human rights abuses in Gaza, the White House argues the demonstrations have crossed a line, turning colleges into hotbeds of hostility.
As mentioned, Harvard’s legal team has already filed a federal lawsuit in response, specifically claiming that the cuts violate First Amendment protections limiting political interference in academic affairs.
For now, Harvard’s standoff with Washington may set the tone for the future of federally funded education – raising a crucial question: Should universities be entitled to taxpayer dollars if they fail to ensure a safe environment for all students?
With a $53 billion war chest, Harvard may not feel the pinch financially. But politically and culturally, the battle may only be beginning for the Ivy League institution.