All the Actions the Trump Administration Has Taken Against Harvard

New York Times

22-05-2025

Presidential threats. Onerous investigations. Extensive funding cuts.
The Trump administration has wielded all three against Harvard University in what began as the work of a task force the president commissioned to address antisemitism on campus — but has sprawled into a multifaceted pressure campaign that leverages the scope and power of the federal government.
The effort involves at least eight investigations spanning at least six agencies, including the Departments of Justice, Education and Health and Human Services. Some of those agencies, and others, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, have pulled or frozen grants from the school and its research partners, totaling nearly $4 billion.
The administration targeted Harvard — and other elite schools, such as Columbia University — as part of a broader political and legal strategy to reshape academia's race-based admissions policies and perceived liberal bias. While not being officially framed as a personal vendetta for President Trump, the government's increasingly punitive actions have come after Harvard resisted many of the changes his administration demanded to admissions, curriculum and hiring practices.
So far, the moves have not convinced the nation's oldest and wealthiest university to come back to the negotiating table, even if school officials have privately expressed concerns about the lasting damage that feuding with the administration could cause.
The university sued after the administration threatened to take away billions in federal funding and has pushed back strongly against the various investigations, denying allegations of wrongdoing and maintaining that it is committed to following the law.
'The administration's prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government,' Harvard's president, Dr. Alan Garber, wrote last month. 'No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.'
The origins of Mr. Trump's strategy can be traced, at least in part, to his first administration, when the Justice Department joined a lawsuit against Harvard that argued that the use of race in admissions was discriminatory. Five years later, in 2023, as Mr. Trump was campaigning, the Supreme Court ruled in the plaintiffs' favor, doing away with affirmative action. That decision has underpinned his second administration's assault on diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Here are all the major actions Mr. Trump's second administration has taken against Harvard so far:
Demand letter
Curriculum changes, hiring overhauls and adjustments to admission policies that align with the Trump administration's political agenda
Funding cuts and freezes
$2.2 billion in multiyear research grants, $60 million in contracts
$1 billion in National Institutes of Health funding for Harvard's research partners
Disqualified from all future federal grants
Date: May 5
What happened: The decision was relayed to Dr. Garber in a contentious letter signed by Linda McMahon, the education secretary, that made no mention of antisemitism or transgender issues. The missive overflowed with Mr. Trump's familiar grievances and deployed some of his signature stylings, like the use of all-capital letters to emphasize words and social media to announce the move.
Status: Dr. Garber responded on May 12 with a letter that struck a more conciliatory tone, noting the school and the government's 'common ground' and 'shared interest.' 'We welcome the opportunity to share further information with you about the important work we are undertaking to combat prejudice and to pursue our mission of excellence in teaching, learning, and research,' he wrote.
$450 million in multiagency grants
$60 million in grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Investigations
Health department investigation into Harvard Medical School graduation ceremonies
Education Department inquiry into allegations of harassment of Jewish students
Antisemitism Task Force review of all contracts for Harvard and its affiliates.
Homeland Security investigation into international student enrollment
Education Department investigation into disclosures of foreign gifts
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission inquiry into accusations of discrimination against white, Asian, male and heterosexual applicants
Joint agency investigation into accusations of racial preferences at the Harvard Law Review
Education Department review of admissions policies
Justice Department investigation into whether the school's admission policies defrauded the government
Threats From Trump
'What if we never pay them?'
'We are going to be taking away Harvard's Tax Exempt Status.'