Harvard University is reportedly attempting to come to terms with the White House’s demand of $500 million amid possible withdrawal of federal funding, the New York Times reports.
According to White House spokesperson Harrison W. Fields, the administration’s proposal to Harvard “is simple and common sense: Don’t allow antisemitism and D.E.I. to run your campus, don’t break the law, and protect the civil liberties of all students.”
The news of a possible deal comes after Columbia University settled a $220 million fine with the White House last week, an amount less than double of what is expected from Harvard.
However, according to the New York Times, the university is “reluctant” to pay this fine amid ongoing negotiations.
Whether Harvard, if it pays the fine, will face similar requirements as Columbia is unknown. For instance, Columbia must be monitored by an independent agency to ensure its compliance with the White House’s demands for merit-based hiring and admissions processes.
Columbia must also pay over $20 million in restitution to Jewish university members affected by several pro-Palestine campus protests, which led to the disruption of university operations and destruction of property.
Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in April a statement about the university’s dissatisfaction with the White House’s demands. Since being targeted by the Trump administration for anti-Israel campus protests and subjected to funding loss, Harvard has been dismissive of White House demands, labeling them as governmental overreach.
“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,” Garber wrote.
“These ends will not be achieved by assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate,” Garber concluded. “The work of addressing our shortcomings, fulfilling our commitments, and embodying our values is ours to define and undertake as a community. Freedom of thought and inquiry, along with the government’s longstanding commitment to respect and protect it.”
