Harvard under fire as more than 14,000 push back against $500 million Trump deal: Campus activists vow to fight political interference

Time of India

2 days ago

Harvard University is under mounting pressure from its own community to walk away from a potential settlement with the Trump administration that critics say could undermine academic freedom and set a dangerous precedent for higher education, The Harvard Crimson reported.
A letter signed by more than 14,000 students, faculty, alumni, and members of the public was sent Wednesday to University President Alan M. Garber '76 and the Harvard Corporation — the institution's highest governing body. It warns that striking a deal to restore billions in frozen federal research funds in exchange for political concessions would have a 'chilling effect' not only on Harvard but across American academia.
High-stakes negotiations
The New York Times revealed earlier this week that talks between Harvard and the White House, ongoing since June, are nearing a resolution. The reported terms: Harvard would pay $500 million to vocational and educational programmes in return for full restoration of its research funding — but is resisting the administration's demand for an external compliance monitor.
Harvard's Ivy League peers have already accepted similar deals.
Columbia University agreed to pay $220 million, allow continuing administrative reviews of certain academic programmes, and submit to oversight by an outside monitor. Brown University paid $50 million to state workforce development initiatives. Both schools also handed over admissions data on race and gender — a move critics argue infringes on academic autonomy.
Contentious demands
As reported by
The Harvard Crimson
, the letter's organisers including student group Students for Freedom and alumni coalition Crimson Courage, say the administration's demands go further: punish pro-Palestinian student groups, curb campus protests, and place certain Middle East-focused academic centres under heightened oversight.
The signatories are calling on Harvard to:
Protect international affiliates from politically motivated targeting
Reject what they describe as 'extortionate' fines
Keep admissions and hiring decisions free from political or ideological interference
Campus pushback grows
Student protests and alumni advocacy have intensified. Students for Freedom staged two large demonstrations last semester, while Crimson Courage rallied 12,000 alumni to sign an amicus brief supporting Harvard's lawsuit against the federal funding freeze.
'Academic freedom and democracy are inherently tied, and once you knock down one side, the rest of the dominoes fall,' Evelyn J. Kim '95, a Crimson Courage organiser, told
The Harvard Crimson
.
A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment on the letter or the status of settlement talks.
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