Trump administration freezes $2.3 billion in Harvard funds over campus antisemitism clash

The U.S. Department of Education has frozen approximately $2.3 billion in federal funding to Harvard University after the Ivy League school pushed back on demands from the Trump administration to implement sweeping changes related to campus antisemitism and diversity programs.

According to a Monday announcement, the funding freeze includes $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in federal contracts. The move follows Harvard’s refusal to comply with directives issued by the White House targeting its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and demanding stricter action against antisemitic incidents on campus.

“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation's most prestigious universities - that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” said the Education Department’s antisemitism task force.

The clash marks a major escalation in the ongoing tension between federal officials and elite universities over academic governance, political influence, and civil rights compliance.

Hours before the funding freeze was announced, Harvard President Alan Garber declared the university would not comply with the administration's demands regarding protests, DEI programs, or how the university addresses antisemitism.

“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,” Garber stated.

Attorneys for Harvard argued that the administration’s demands were legally overreaching, stating that the university "is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”

The funding freeze comes amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to tie federal support to ideological conformity, with a warning that nearly $9 billion in future grants and contracts could also be on the line.