The Trump administration has sent its demands to Harvard University on policies it must change to avoid the loss of federal funding after the federal government opened a review into the billions of dollars in contracts and grants it holds with the nation’s oldest and richest school.
In a Thursday letter, obtained by The Hill, demands similar to the ones asked of Columbia University by the administration were laid for Harvard: mask bans, with some exceptions; more rules on protest; reforms in university leadership; greater accountability against student groups; reforms to admissions and hiring practices; shuttering diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and greater cooperation with law enforcement and the federal government.
While it did not call for an academic receivership over specific departments like at Columbia, the letter said reviews and changes must be made to departments that “fuel antisemitism harassment.”
“Below, you will find several broad, non-exhaustive areas of reform that the government views as necessary for Harvard to implement to remain a responsible recipient of federal taxpayer dollars. We look forward to a meaningful dialogue focused on lasting, structural reforms at Harvard,” the letter reads.
The letter was sent to the president and lead member of the Harvard Corp. by Josh Gruenbaum, the commissioner of the federal acquisition service in the General Services Administration; Sean Keveney, the acting general counsel at the Health and Human Services Department; and Thomas Wheeler, the acting general counsel at the Department of Education.
“Harvard received the letter from the federal task force Thursday afternoon,” a spokesperson for the school confirmed.
The demands came after the federal government opened a review of Harvard’s contract earlier this week.
Harvard is given a chance Columbia was not in getting to respond to the demands before funding is cut off. For Columbia, the federal government cut off $400 million in contracts before even giving the list of demands.
Despite Columbia agreeing to make the changes, the Trump administration said it was only a “first step” to getting the funding back and has kept the pause in place.
Other universities have received smaller federal funding cuts, including the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maine over alleged violations of the Trump administration’s transgender athlete policies.
A lawsuit is underway over the funding cuts to Columbia.
