Officials from the Trump administration believe a letter that set off a clash with Harvard University may have been sent in error, The New York Times reported Friday.
The April 11 letter called for broad governance and leadership reforms, demanded that Harvard institute “viewpoint diversity” while halting existing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, required that the university report “conduct violations” by foreign students to government officials, and more.
Harvard said it would not comply. In response, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in US government funding.
The letter was sent by Sean Keveney, the acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services and a member of the White House’s task force on antisemitism. Shortly after Harvard officials received the letter, another member of the task force, General Services Administration official Josh Gruenbaum, called them to say it should not have been sent and was “unauthorized,” two people familiar with the matter said.
The struggle between the administration and America’s oldest and wealthiest university is the latest move in a campaign targeting elite universities with federal funding cuts following pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campus protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the deadly October 2023 onslaught by the terror group that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 taken hostage.
Trump has cast the protesters as foreign policy threats who are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas.
Sean Keveney, a member of the White House’s antisemitism task force, is shown during a federal civil rights trial in which he served as a prosecutor, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
By combining the accusations of misconduct and antisemitism with demands to end diversity programs, the administration is echoing long-standing conservative complaints that US university campuses are too liberal, shutting out right-wing voices and giving preference to Black and other minority groups over whites.
A ‘victimhood campaign’
A senior White House official told the Times that the administration stands by the letter and blamed Harvard for not holding talks, but said there is a path back to talks on the matter.
“It was malpractice on the side of Harvard’s lawyers not to pick up the phone and call the members of the antisemitism task force whom they had been talking to for weeks,” May Mailman, the White House senior policy strategist, told the newspaper. “Instead, Harvard went on a victimhood campaign.”
Harvard rejected the claim that it should have held discussions with government lawyers after receiving the letter.
The letter “was signed by three federal officials, placed on official letterhead, was sent from the email inbox of a senior federal official and was sent on April 11 as promised,” Harvard said in response. “Recipients of such correspondence from the US government — even when it contains sweeping demands that are astonishing in their overreach — do not question its authenticity or seriousness.”
The Trump administration is also attempting to deport some foreign protesters and has revoked hundreds of visas across the country.
Jews attend a rally in support of detained anti-Israel Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk in Somerville, Massachusetts, March 26, 2025. Several Jews later left the rally after speakers began denouncing Israel. (Courtesy of Ron Newman via JTA)
A swath of American Jewry is alarmed about the Trump administration’s crackdown due to perceived threats to due process and free speech, while acknowledging that action is needed to combat rampant antisemitism.
The Harvard Jewish Alumni Association, which formed following the October 7 attacks and says its mission is to “protect the students, faculty, and staff of the Harvard Jewish community,” disparaged Harvard’s response to the letter.
“Harvard declares it will resist changes to its governance, but where’s the statement outlining what it WILL do instead to fight antisemitism?” the group posted on X.
Harvard has previously said it worked to fight antisemitism and other prejudice on its campus while preserving academic freedoms and the right to protest.
Escalating government scrutiny
The US Department of Education on Friday told Harvard to submit a list of its foreign funding sources, saying its previous reports were inaccurate and incomplete.
Republicans in the US Congress announced an investigation into Harvard on Thursday, accusing the university of flouting civil rights law and demanding documents on its hiring practices, diversity programs, and last year’s pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campus protests.
Trump called Harvard a “joke” on Wednesday and said it should lose its government research contracts after the top university refused demands that it accept outside political supervision.
Trump’s administration also formally asked the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to revoke the famed seat of learning’s tax-exempt status, US media reported, just a day after the president first made the threat.
The payments frozen to Harvard are for government contracts with its leading research programs, mostly in the medical field, where the school’s laboratories are critical players in the development of new medicines and treatments.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Wednesday the termination of two DHS grants totaling over $2.7 million to Harvard and further warned that Harvard will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet the administration’s demands.
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