After Harvard University rejected a proposed agreement from the Trump administration outlining conditions for federal funding, federal officials said they would freeze $2.2 billion in multiyear grants along with a $60 million contract to the Cambridge, Mass.-based university.
On March 31, federal agencies, including HHS, launched a comprehensive review of nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts to Harvard. The move was in response to what the administration described as Harvard’s “failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination.”
In an April 11 letter sent to Harvard, federal officials outlined changes the university must make to “maintain a financial relationship with the federal government.” The demands included governance and leadership reforms; merit-based hiring reform; an immediate halt of all diversity, equity and inclusion programs and policies; and bringing in an external party to conduct a “viewpoint diversity” audit of all academic departments.
In a statement to the Harvard community April 14, university President Alan Garber, MD, PhD, reiterated its commitment to combat antisemitic harassment on campus, saying many steps have been taken over the past 15 months. However, Dr. Garber said the university will not accept the proposed agreement from the Trump administration, saying the demands “go beyond the power of the federal government.” Many of the demands, he said, are centered on regulating “intellectual conditions” at Harvard rather than combating antisemitism.
“We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement,” Dr. Garber wrote in the statement. “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.”
Employees and physicians at Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, which is affiliated with Boston-based Harvard Medical School, have raised questions about what the funding cuts mean for clinical research at the health system. More than 200 physicians and staff signed a letter sent to Mass General Brigham leaders April 14 calling on the health system to resist threats to federal funding, according to The Boston Globe.
In a statement sent to employees April 14, Mass General Brigham President and CEO Anne Klibanski, MD, said the health system values its long-standing relationship with Harvard Medical School and remains committed to its mission of enhancing patient care, research, education and community health. However, she acknowledged uncertainty surrounding what effect the funding freeze federal investigation could mean for the health system.
