Harvard vs Trump: $2.2B Funding Cut Over Diversity Dispute

How Harvard is fighting back against the US government

The US government is threatening universities and withdrawing billions of dollars in federal funding from Harvard. What is Donald Trump’s plan? And: Student protests in Turkey.

US President Donald Trump is increasing the pressure on universities. The elite university Harvard is particularly affected . After resisting government demands, the university lost billions of dollars in federal funding totaling $2.2 billion . The US President had called for, among other things, the abolition of diversity criteria, tougher measures against protesting students, the surveillance of international students and nfluence on teaching content. Harvard rejected this, citing academic freedom. 

Donald Trump had previously put pressure on Columbia University and sent similar threats to other universities. Constitutional lawyers see this as a dangerous abuse of power and warn of a further erosion of democratic institutions. Rieke Havertz , international correspondent for ZEIT, analyzes Donald Trump’s targeted actions to undermine the independence of universities.

In Turkey, numerous high school students are currently protesting against the planned transfer of up to 20,000 teachers to so-called project schools. According to media reports, the transfers primarily affect teachers who are considered critical of the government . Sit-ins and spontaneous demonstrations are taking place in cities such as Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir. The students are demanding transparency and criticizing political influence on the education system.

The government is citing a 2020 regulation that allows for the regulation of term of office at project schools. The protests, which began with the imprisonment of opposition politician Ekrem İmamoğlu , have developed into a nationwide youth movement despite police presence and arrests . Dr. Ismail Küpeli is a political scientist and project coordinator at Ruhr University Bochum. In this podcast, he explains the potential impact of the student protests in the country. 

Trump threatens to classify Harvard as a “political organization”

Harvard University is resisting Donald Trump’s demands. The US president responded with new threats: He could cut the school’s tax benefits.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to revoke the elite university Harvard ‘s tax benefits as an educational institution and classify it as a “political organization.” Perhaps Harvard’s tax exemption should be revoked, Trump wrote on his online service Truth Social. Instead, perhaps the university should be taxed as a political institution “if it continues to promote/support politically, ideologically, and terrorist inspired/supportive ‘disease’?” he added. After all, tax exemption should only be granted if action is taken in the public interest.

He left open how Trump specifically intends to change the tax status of universities. In the US, most universities are exempt from income tax because their entire activities serve educational purposes.

Previously, Harvard President Alan Garber had criticized the US government’s actions against universities in a letter and opposed demands from Trump and the US Department of Education. According to these, universities should, among other things, close diversity departments and assist immigration authorities in screening students. Garber wrote that this would represent a surrender of the university’s independence and its constitutional rights.

Trump demands an apology, according to his spokeswoman

In response, the Department of Education announced it would cut $2.2 billion (€1.9 billion) in multi-year federal funding to the university . On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was also demanding an apology from the university administration.

Meanwhile, the US civil rights organization NAACP filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Education to stop the withdrawal of funding from universities with diversity programs. This would deny Black Americans equal access to educational opportunities. The Department of Education initially declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Since taking office on January 20, Trump’s domestic policy has followed a culture-war agenda specifically targeting minorities and so-called wokeness. He issued executive orders partially reinterpreting history in US museums and largely abolishing the US Department of Education. He has cut or threatened to cut funding to universities that promote diversity or, in the US government’s view, have not adequately addressed anti-Israel protests and anti-Semitism. 

While US universities are concerned about a decline in applications from abroad, universities in Canada are reporting strong interest from US citizens. The administration of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, for example, recorded a 27 percent increase in applications from US citizens as of March 1, compared to the same period last year.

They attributed the increase to the Trump administration’s education policies. “This is also a result of the recent tightening of visa regulations for international students in the US and the recent establishment of a center that reads the social media accounts of international students,” said UBC professor Gage Averill. Universities in Toronto and Waterloo also reported an increase in applicants from the US, but they did not provide a reason for this.

Anti-diversity policy: Trump threatens Harvard with end of tax privileges – Obama intervenes

Donald Trump is demanding a change of course from US universities. They should end diversity programs. Harvard is refusing – and is now losing billions in funding. But things could get even worse.

US President Donald Trump is increasing the pressure on the elite university Harvard. On Tuesday, he threatened to revoke the school’s tax benefits and classify it as a “political organization.” Trump justified his actions with the university’s misguided “ideology” and incidents of anti-Semitism. His administration had therefore put billions in grants to Harvard on hold.

The president accused Harvard of having a “political, ideological, and terrorist-influenced” stance in its Truth Social service. Tax exemption, however, could only be granted to organizations that acted in the public interest, the president wrote in capital letters.

The US government had previously announced it would cut $2.2 billion (€1.9 billion) in multi-year funding to the elite university near Boston. The university’s administration is resisting Trump’s demands to close diversity departments and support immigration authorities in screening students.

University president sees Harvard’s independence at risk

In an open letter published Monday, university president Alan Garber defended the university’s independence. “No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities may teach, whom they may admit and hire, and what areas of study and research they may pursue,” the letter states.

The university president was responding to a letter from the U.S. Department of Education on Friday. In it, the department demanded, among other things, the discontinuation of programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion . The university also recommended that the university review some of its academic departments.

Harvard President Garber wrote that the federal government’s demands for the university to “screen” the viewpoints of its students, faculty, and staff to identify left-wing thinkers opposed to the Trump administration clearly violate the constitutional right to free speech. “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the letter continued.

Harvard will take measures to combat anti-Semitism on campus. This goal, however, will not be achieved through an unlawful exercise of power to control teaching and learning at Harvard. Harvard agreed in January to provide additional protections for Jewish students. The university thus settled two lawsuits accusing it of being a hotbed of anti-Semitism.

Obama supports Harvard in its resistance against Trump

The university president received praise for his stance from a prominent alumnus. Former President Barack Obama wrote on X. “Harvard set an example for other institutions of higher learning by rejecting an unlawful and clumsy attempt to suppress academic freedom.”

Obama went on to say he hoped other institutions would follow suit. The Democrat had recently called for universities to use their endowment funds or cut costs rather than comply with US President Donald Trump’s demands.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Anti-Semitism Office justified the cuts in federal funding for universities with “a disturbing sense of entitlement” that prevails in the U.S.’s most prestigious universities and colleges: “namely, that federal investment does not come with a responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.”

Harvard is seeking $750 million in loans to offset the cut in federal funding.

---

Sources used:

• With material from the News agencies afp, Reuters news agency, BBC News and CNN reports. The content has been independently analyzed and rewritten to provide original insights.

---