The US Department of Education announced that it would freeze more than $2 billion in funding for Harvard University. This happened just hours after Harvard rejected President Donald Trump’s demands for the university to make big changes to its policies on diversity.
The Department of Education said it would stop $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts from going to Harvard. The government said the school failed to meet certain rules, like fighting antisemitism (hatred against Jewish people).
This freeze in funding is just the latest in a series of clashes between the Trump administration and universities in the US, especially schools that Trump claims are too liberal or left-wing.
The Controversy:
In the past, Trump’s government has frozen millions of dollars in funding for schools that didn’t follow his demands about antisemitism and other issues. Some schools have even been pressured to send students back to their home countries, especially students who protested against Israel.
Harvard’s Response:
Harvard University refused to follow the government’s demands. Harvard’s President, Alan Garber, said that Trump’s administration was trying to control the school’s values and how it operates. He said that no government, no matter which party is in power, should be able to tell private universities like Harvard how to teach or what to focus on.
In a letter, Garber explained that the government was trying to control the school’s freedom of speech and wanted to audit (check) the opinions of the students and teachers. He argued that this violated Harvard’s rights and that the university would not give up its freedom.
The Government’s Demands:
The government said that Harvard wasn’t doing enough to stop antisemitism on campus. The Department of Education said that Harvard should change its hiring rules, and stop giving special treatment to students or teachers based on things like race or background. It also said that the university needed to make sure it wasn’t admitting students who might be hostile to American values.
What’s Next:
Harvard is now working on a plan to deal with the loss of money from the government. The university is borrowing $750 million from banks to help cover costs.
Even though there is a freeze on the funding, Harvard has said it will continue working to stop antisemitism and other problems on campus, but it will not allow the government to control what it teaches or how it operates.
The fight between Harvard and the Trump administration shows just how much control the government wants over universities and their policies, especially when it comes to issues like freedom of speech and diversity.
