Harvard rejects Trump demands on DEI, imperiling $9 billion in federal funding

Harvard University rejected a proposed deal with President Donald Trump, putting $9 billion in federal funding at risk.
The Trump administration proposed conditions Harvard must follow to receive funding, including eliminating so-called DEI initiatives and screening for international students “supportive of terrorism and anti-Semitism.”
The White House has also targeted Columbia, Cornell and Northwestern universities with threats to their federal funding.

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preCharge News POLITICS — Harvard University on Monday rejected demands by the Trump administration to eliminate its DEI programs and screen international students for ideological concerns, putting nearly $9 billion in federal funding for the university at risk.

“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 President Alan Garber wrote in a note to the university community.

“Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” Garber said.

Harvard’s rejection comes after the Trump administration sent the university a list of demands as part of its review of nearly $9 billion in government funding for the school.

The administration demanded the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and called for screening international students for purported support of terrorism, antisemitism and hostility to “the American values and institutions inscribed in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.”

A person runs past Dunster House at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 17, 2025. Scott Eisen | Getty Images

The White House did not immediately respond to preCharge News request for comment.

The White House has zeroed in on colleges and universities as part of its crackdown on DEI programs nationwide since President Donald Trump regained office in January.

The Trump administration earlier this year cut $400 million in funding for Columbia University over its handling of the pro-Palestinian protests that erupted on campus.

Columbia University acquiesced to many of the White House’s demands.

The White House said last week that it halted more than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell University and roughly $790 million for Northwestern University.