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| Obama backs Harvard as Yale faculty members support standing up to Trump | |
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| Harvard faces funding freeze as Yale faculty asks leadership ‘to resist and legally challenge any unlawful demands’ | Harvard faces funding freeze as Yale faculty asks leadership ‘to resist and legally challenge any unlawful demands’ |
| Barack Obama has come out in support of Harvard after the Trump administration elected to cut $2bn of its federal grants after the Ivy League school in Massachusetts rejected what it said was an attempt at “government regulation” of the university. | Barack Obama has come out in support of Harvard after the Trump administration elected to cut $2bn of its federal grants after the Ivy League school in Massachusetts rejected what it said was an attempt at “government regulation” of the university. |
| Meanwhile, faculty at Yale University – another prominent Ivy League institution – has asked its leadership “to resist and legally challenge any unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and … self-governance”. | Meanwhile, faculty at Yale University – another prominent Ivy League institution – has asked its leadership “to resist and legally challenge any unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and … self-governance”. |
| A statement from Obama, the US president from 2009 to 2017, says: “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. | A statement from Obama, the US president from 2009 to 2017, says: “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. |
| “Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.” | “Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.” |
| The standoff between some of the US’s most prestigious universities and the federal government deepened overnight on Monday after Harvard rejected elevated demands by Donald Trump’s administration, which the president has called an effort to curb antisemitism on campus. Many educators, however, see the demands as a thinly veiled effort to more broadly curb academic freedoms. | The standoff between some of the US’s most prestigious universities and the federal government deepened overnight on Monday after Harvard rejected elevated demands by Donald Trump’s administration, which the president has called an effort to curb antisemitism on campus. Many educators, however, see the demands as a thinly veiled effort to more broadly curb academic freedoms. |
| “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,” Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, said. | “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,” Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, said. |
| The Trump administration, through the multi-federal agency joint task force to combat anti-semitism, responded by freezing $2.2bn in multi-year grants and $60m in multi-year contract value to Harvard. | The Trump administration, through the multi-federal agency joint task force to combat anti-semitism, responded by freezing $2.2bn in multi-year grants and $60m in multi-year contract value to Harvard. |
| On Tuesday, Trump himself published a post on his Truth Social platform saying “perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity”. | On Tuesday, Trump himself published a post on his Truth Social platform saying “perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity”. |
| The intervention by Obama came after 876 faculty members at Yale published a letter to their leadership expressing support for standing up to the Trump administration. | The intervention by Obama came after 876 faculty members at Yale published a letter to their leadership expressing support for standing up to the Trump administration. |
| “We stand together at a crossroads,” the letter read. “American universities are facing extraordinary attacks that threaten the bedrock principles of a democratic society, including rights of free expression, association, and academic freedom. We write as one faculty, to ask you to stand with us now.” | “We stand together at a crossroads,” the letter read. “American universities are facing extraordinary attacks that threaten the bedrock principles of a democratic society, including rights of free expression, association, and academic freedom. We write as one faculty, to ask you to stand with us now.” |
| Though the letter does not say Harvard specifically, it also asks Yale’s leadership to “work purposefully and proactively with other colleges and universities in collective defense”. | Though the letter does not say Harvard specifically, it also asks Yale’s leadership to “work purposefully and proactively with other colleges and universities in collective defense”. |
| Columbia University in New York, the site of pro-Palestinian protests in 2024, has agreed to partly comply with a series of demands from the Trump administration about how it will handle such demonstrations, academic departments and antisemitism after it received warnings it would lose federal funding, but also defended academic freedoms. | Columbia University in New York, the site of pro-Palestinian protests in 2024, has agreed to partly comply with a series of demands from the Trump administration about how it will handle such demonstrations, academic departments and antisemitism after it received warnings it would lose federal funding, but also defended academic freedoms. |
| Princeton in New Jersey has said it has not received a specific list of demands from the government. The university’s president, Christopher Eisgruber, said in an email to the community earlier in April that while the rationale for the administration’s threat to withhold funding was not yet clear, the university “will comply with the law”. | Princeton in New Jersey has said it has not received a specific list of demands from the government. The university’s president, Christopher Eisgruber, said in an email to the community earlier in April that while the rationale for the administration’s threat to withhold funding was not yet clear, the university “will comply with the law”. |
| “We are committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism,” Eisgruber added. “Princeton will also vigorously defend academic freedom and the due process rights of this university.” | “We are committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism,” Eisgruber added. “Princeton will also vigorously defend academic freedom and the due process rights of this university.” |
| “The Trump administration is using the threat of funding cuts as a tactic to force universities to yield to government control over research, teaching, and speech on private campuses. It is flagrantly unlawful,” said a statement from Rachel Goodman, counsel of the American Association of University Professors. | “The Trump administration is using the threat of funding cuts as a tactic to force universities to yield to government control over research, teaching, and speech on private campuses. It is flagrantly unlawful,” said a statement from Rachel Goodman, counsel of the American Association of University Professors. |
| Columbia agreed to a ban on face masks for the purposes of concealing one’s identity, to bar protests inside academic buildings and to review how Middle East studies programs are administered. It also acquiesced to expanding “intellectual diversity”, including by appointing new faculty members to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies department. | |
| The stated goal of the Trump administration’s antisemitism taskforce is to “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses”. But many believe that is a cover for a range of conservative goals, including eliminating racial quotas in admissions – and resetting what the administration sees as a far-left bias in academia. | The stated goal of the Trump administration’s antisemitism taskforce is to “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses”. But many believe that is a cover for a range of conservative goals, including eliminating racial quotas in admissions – and resetting what the administration sees as a far-left bias in academia. |
| “We are going to choke off the money to schools that aid the Marxist assault on our American heritage and on western civilization itself,” Trump said in 2023. “The days of subsidizing communist indoctrination in our colleges will soon be over.” | |
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| On Tuesday, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Trump “wants to see Harvard apologize” for what she called “the egregious antisemitism that took place on their college campus”. | |
| “When it comes to Harvard … the president has been quite clear: they must follow federal law,” Leavitt said. | |
| In March, the taskforce leader, Leo Terrell, a former Fox News commentator, said: “We’re going to bankrupt these universities” if they do not “play ball”. | In March, the taskforce leader, Leo Terrell, a former Fox News commentator, said: “We’re going to bankrupt these universities” if they do not “play ball”. |
| The administration, in total, has frozen or canceled more than $11bn in funding from at least seven universities as part of its effort to end what it calls “ideological capture”. At least 300 students, recent graduates and postdoctoral students have had their visas and legal immigration statuses revoked as part of the crackdown. | The administration, in total, has frozen or canceled more than $11bn in funding from at least seven universities as part of its effort to end what it calls “ideological capture”. At least 300 students, recent graduates and postdoctoral students have had their visas and legal immigration statuses revoked as part of the crackdown. |
| The Massachusetts Institute of Technology president, Sally Kornbluth, said on Monday that nine MIT students had seen their visas revoked over the previous week – revocations that she said would have a chilling effect on “top talent” worldwide and would “damage American competitiveness and scientific leadership for years to come”. | The Massachusetts Institute of Technology president, Sally Kornbluth, said on Monday that nine MIT students had seen their visas revoked over the previous week – revocations that she said would have a chilling effect on “top talent” worldwide and would “damage American competitiveness and scientific leadership for years to come”. |
| But Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, told the Wall Street Journal that it was within the federal government’s power to ask universities to make changes to campus policies. | But Trump’s education secretary, Linda McMahon, told the Wall Street Journal that it was within the federal government’s power to ask universities to make changes to campus policies. |
| “If you’re taking federal funds, then we want to make sure that you’re abiding by federal law,” McMahon said, though she rejected that the administration was attempting to curb academic freedom and the right to peacefully protest or disagree. | “If you’re taking federal funds, then we want to make sure that you’re abiding by federal law,” McMahon said, though she rejected that the administration was attempting to curb academic freedom and the right to peacefully protest or disagree. |
| A White House spokesperson, Kush Desai, told the outlet that the taskforce “is motivated by one thing and one thing only: tackling antisemitism”. | A White House spokesperson, Kush Desai, told the outlet that the taskforce “is motivated by one thing and one thing only: tackling antisemitism”. |
| Desai said: “Antisemitic protesters inflicting violence and taking over entire college campus buildings is not only a crude display of bigotry against Jewish Americans, but entirely disruptive to the intellectual inquiry and research that federal funding of colleges is meant to support.” | Desai said: “Antisemitic protesters inflicting violence and taking over entire college campus buildings is not only a crude display of bigotry against Jewish Americans, but entirely disruptive to the intellectual inquiry and research that federal funding of colleges is meant to support.” |
| This article was amended on 15 April 2025. An earlier version stated that Princeton University had complied with demands from the Trump administration; however, the school says it has not yet received a specific list of demands. The headline and body copy were also changed to show that Yale’s faculty letter did not mention Harvard specifically, but did ask leadership to “work purposefully and proactively with other colleges and universities in collective defense”. |