According to the White House, Harvard University cannot retain its federal funding unless it ends its diversity, equity, and inclusion program and forbids masked protestors from participating in campus demonstrations.
According to The Harvard Crimson, the White House sent the university a letter earlier this week requesting “immediate cooperation” and “make meaningful governance reforms” so that it might continue to receive millions of dollars in government money.
President Donald Trump’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced earlier this week that it would begin looking into possible anti-Semitism on the Harvard campus.
The Education Department is currently examining more than $8.7 billion in multi-year grants awarded to Harvard and its affiliates, as well as $255.6 million in government contracts with Harvard.
The letter to Harvard was signed by Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum, acting general counsel Sean Keveney of the Health and Human Services Department, and Thomas Wheeler, the acting general counsel at the Department of Education.
“Below, you will find several broad, non-exhaustive areas of reform that the government views as necessary for Harvard to implement to remain a responsible recipient of federal taxpayer dollars. We look forward to a meaningful dialogue focused on lasting, structural reforms at Harvard,” according to the letter.
In late February, the Trump administration established an anti-Semitism panel to examine ten American universities and colleges. Addressing harassment on college campuses was listed as the “first priority” when it was first introduced earlier that month.
In the past, Harvard has been charged by Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon with a “failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination.”
The White House letter this week also calls on the university to change leadership, make student organizations more accountable, and implement additional regulations on campus protests.
At the end of March, Harvard President Alan Garber wrote a response to the White House’s warnings of financial suspension.
“The government has informed us that they are considering this action because they are concerned that the university has not fulfilled its obligations to curb and combat antisemitic harassment,” Garber stated in the open letter on the university’s website.
“I have experienced antisemitism directly, even while serving as president, and I know how damaging it can be to a student who has come to learn and make friends at a college or university.”
“We still have much work to do. We will engage with members of the federal government’s task force to combat antisemitism to ensure that they have a full account of the work we have done and the actions we will take going forward to combat antisemitism.”
This information has been sourced from UPI.
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