Harvard President Alan Garber sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Monday decrying the actions of the Trump administration against his school but stressing areas of concern shared by both sides.
“We share common ground on a number of critical issues, including the importance of ending antisemitism and other bigotry on campus,” Garber said in his letter, adding Harvard “should embrace a multiplicity of viewpoints rather than focusing our attention on narrow orthodoxies.”
But these goals are “undermined and threatened by the federal government’s overreach into the constitutional freedoms of private universities and its continuing disregard of Harvard’s compliance with the law,” he added.
Garber’s letter is in response to one from the Education secretary last week telling Harvard it is no longer eligible for new federal research grants.
In her letter, McMahon accused Harvard of lowering its academic standards, allowing antisemitism on campus and ignoring the 2023 Supreme Court ruling eliminating affirmative action in college admissions.
She said the Trump administration wants “common sense reforms” such as changes to admissions and hiring before Harvard will be eligible for grants again.
“Consistent with the law and with our own values, we continue to pursue needed reforms, doing so in consultation with our stakeholders and always in compliance with the law. But Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government,” Garber said.
The Hill has reached out to the Education Department for comment.
The Trump administration has stripped the university of more than $2.2 billion in federal funding, threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status and put it under a Title VI investigation.
“That is why we have gone to court to address the government’s unlawful attempt to control fundamental aspects of our university’s operations,” Garber said in the letter, referring to a lawsuit over the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding. The next court hearing on the issue is set for July.
In the letter, Garber lists some of the actions the university has taken to address issues on campus and pushed back on McMahon’s assertion Harvard is a “partisan institution.”
“I hope you will take my response to your letter in the spirit in which it is intended: to convey Harvard’s unwavering commitment to compliance with the law, to the elimination of antisemitism and other bigotry on our campus, and to academic excellence,” he concluded.
