McMahon excoriates Harvard, telling it not to bother applying for federal grants

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a scathing letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber on Monday, not only blasting the Massachusetts Ivy League school’s handling of antisemitism on campus but also advising school officials to refrain from applying for future federal grants because they will not “be provided.”

In her no-holds-barred letter, McMahon told Garber that the federal government has a “sacred responsibility” to be an important steward of American taxpayer funds, adding that the school has amassed a largely tax-free $53.2 billion endowment and receives billions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year.

“Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right,” she wrote. “Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students, Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these ‘students’ come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country – and why is there so much HATE? These are questions that must be answered, among many more, but the biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public?”

She also said the university has “made a mockery” of the higher education system in the U.S., inviting foreign students to its campuses who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the U.S.

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McMahon slammed the school for adopting an “embarrassing” remedial math program for undergraduates, questioning why a school that’s so difficult to get admitted to has to teach low-level mathematics.

She called Harvard out for being embroiled in plagiarism scandals and lambasted the school for allowing Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review to engage in “ugly racism.”

McMahon blasted Harvard for hiring former Mayors Bill de Blasio of New York City and Lori Lightfoot of Chicago to teach “leadership” at its School of Public Health.

“This is like hiring the captain of the Titanic to teach navigation to future captains of the sea,” she said.

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“The above concerns are only a fraction of the long list of Harvard’s consistent violations of its own legal duties. 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,” McMahon later wrote. “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,” she added.

In closing, McMahon reminded Garber that the Trump administration had been willing to maintain federal funding to Harvard as long as the school complied with federal law to protect and promote student welfare and stop racial preferencing.

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“The proposed common-sense reforms – which the Administration remains committed to – include a return to merit-based admissions and hiring, an end to unlawful programs that promote crude identity stereotypes, disciplinary reform and consistent accountability, including for student groups, cooperation with Law Enforcement, and reporting compliance with the Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, and other Federal Agencies,” McMahon said. “The Administration’s priorities have not changed, and today’s letter marks the end of new grants for the university.”

Harvard confirmed to Fox News Digital that it received a letter from the administration on Monday.

“Today, we received another letter from the administration doubling down on demands that would impose unprecedented and improper control over Harvard University and would have chilling implications for higher education,” a Harvard spokesperson said. “Today’s letter makes new threats to illegally withhold funding for lifesaving research and innovation in retaliation against Harvard for filing its lawsuit on April 21.

“Harvard will continue to comply with the law, promote and encourage respect for viewpoint diversity, and combat antisemitism in our community. Harvard will also continue to defend against illegal government overreach aimed at stifling research and innovation that make Americans safer and more secure,” the spokesperson continued.

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McMahon’s letter comes just days after President Donald Trump declared that his administration was going to be taking away Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

Trump made the announcement after Fox News reported that his administration asked the Internal Revenue Service to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status. The Ivy League school’s failure to address antisemitism on campus is grounds for losing its 501(c)(3) status, sources said at the time.

Trump argued in mid-April that Harvard had “lost its way” and didn’t deserve federal funding.

“Harvard has been hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’ who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called ‘future leaders,'” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Look just to the recent past at their plagiarizing President, who so greatly embarrassed Harvard before the United States Congress.”

Harvard has become a target of Trump’s broader crackdown on universities, much of which is in response to last year’s anti-Israel unrest that erupted on campuses across the country.

On April 11, the Trump administration sent a letter to Garber and Harvard Corporation Lead Member Penny Pritzker outlining the institution’s failures and a list of demands from the White House. In the letter, the administration accused Harvard of failing to uphold civil rights laws and to foster an “environment that produces intellectual creativity.”

The Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding if Harvard did not reform governance and leadership as well as its hiring and admissions practices by August 2025. The letter emphasized the need for Harvard to change its international admissions process to avoid admitting students who are “hostile” to American values or support terrorism or antisemitism. 

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Harvard refused to comply with the demands, with Garber saying that “no government… should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

The Trump administration then froze $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard and is reportedly looking to slash another billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The university later filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its “unlawful” freezing of funds.

Fox News’ Greg Norman, Andrea Margolis, Alexis McAdams and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.