WASHINGTON (TNND) — Harvard University announced it will not comply with the White House’s list of demands required to reinstate $9 billion worth of funding under review due to reports of antisemitism on campus. The Trump administration has increased financial pressure on elite universities, urging them to address antisemitism on campuses, which polls show surged following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
A group of Harvard professors recently filed a lawsuit against the White House regarding the funding threats, arguing the White House’s approach undermines academic freedom and free speech.
John P. Fishwick Jr., a former U.S. attorney, said, “I think it’s going to be uphill for the Harvard professors to win because ultimately the government, the federal government, the Trump administration in this case has got the big club, we give you money we make the rules and here the rules are you can’t discriminate against Jewish students.”
Last week, the White House froze more than $1 billion to Cornell and another $790 million to Northwestern. Brown, UPenn, Princeton, and Columbia face significant cuts in federal funds as well. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is seeking to install federal oversight over Columbia University to ensure the school complies with the demands to reinstate federal funding. This arrangement, known as a consent decree, would require Columbia’s agreement.
“This may be the way they’ll end up going because after all the Trump team is taking it from the playbook from the Obama team. The Obama team had consent decrees with law enforcement around the country and those were very heavy sort of agreements and these may be very heavy-handed sort of agreements,” Fishwick noted.
Meanwhile, Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber acknowledged on The New York Times “The Daily” podcast that antisemitism is an issue. “At Columbia, I would say it’s clear there were some serious problems in regards to antisemitism,” he said. Eisgruber conceded Princeton has its own issues with antisemitism. “I did hear antisemitic remarks, including some that were directed my way over the past year,” said Eisgruber.
Eisgruber told The New York Times, that Princeton will not follow Columbia in conceding to the White House’s demands, adding that the administration has not yet made any specific requests of Princeton.
