The Trump administration announced Monday that it is probing Harvard University over its chronic problems with antisemitism, placing nearly $9 billion in federal grants at risk at the nation’s most elite academic institution.
Harvard’s campus has become increasingly hostile to Jews in recent years, as radical anti-Israel activists have become ubiquitous — especially since the Hamas terror attack of October 7, 2023, which dozens of student groups blamed on Israel.
The university has struggled to respond. Former Harvard president Claudine Gay could not even commit to Congress that the university would take action if there were calls for the genocide of Jews on campus. She resigned weeks later.
Three separate federal departments announced a joint investigation of Harvard in a press statement on Monday:
Today, the Departments of Education (ED), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), announced a comprehensive review of federal contracts and grants at Harvard University and its affiliates. This review is part of the ongoing efforts of the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.
The Task Force will review the more than $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard University, its affiliates and the Federal Government. The review also includes the more than $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard University and its affiliates to ensure the university is in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities.
“Harvard has served as a symbol of the American Dream for generations – the pinnacle aspiration for students all over the world to work hard and earn admission to the storied institution,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination – all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry – has put its reputation in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus.”
The Trump administration took a similar approach in addressing antisemitism on the campus of Columbia University, which quickly agreed to make major policy changes — though it later seemed to backtrack privately.
After the inaction of the Biden administration, which was reluctant to confront its own radical base about anti-Jewish bigotry, Trump has been aggressive in confronting antisemitism.
Harvard and Columbia are both on a list of ten universities nationwide that have been identified as particularly problematic by a new federal antisemitism task force.
The Harvard Crimson noted separately that the Trump administration is also targeting Harvard’s “go-to” law firm, WilmerHale, among other “Big Law” firms that are seen as having supported “lawfare” against the president.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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