Will Harvard learn a lesson? Do they even understand what the lesson is?
“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.” – President Alan Garber https://t.co/6cQQpcJVTd
— Harvard University (@Harvard) April 14, 2025
Probably not
Harvard rejects Trump demands, gets hit by $2.3 billion funding freeze
Harvard on Monday rejected numerous demands from the Trump administration that it said would cede control of the school to a conservative government that portrays universities as dangerously leftist.
Within hours of Harvard taking its stand, the administration of President Donald Trump announced it was freezing $2.3 billion in federal funding to the school.
The funding freeze comes after the Trump administration said last month it was reviewing $9 billion in federal contracts and grants to Harvard as part of a crackdown on what it says is antisemitism that erupted on college campuses during pro-Palestinian protests in the past 18 months.
On Monday, a Department of Education task force on combating antisemitism accused America’s oldest university of having a “troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.”
The exchange escalates the high-stakes dispute between the the Trump administration and some of the world’s richest universities that has raised concerns about speech and academic freedoms.
Does Harvard actually want to die on the hill of defending Jew hatred? Apparently so. And the lesson is that private entities shouldn’t be taking large sums of government money if they do not want the government to have a say in their operations.
Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a public letter on Monday that demands made by the Department of Education last week would allow the federal government “to control the Harvard community” and threaten the school’s “values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.”
Of, course, again, those operations are Jew hatred and supporting a US designated terrorist group. Defending students and staff who are calling for killing Jews and Americans. Who are calling to destroy Israel and America. Is that the knowledge Harvard is defending?
And, yeah, the federal government shouldn’t be giving private institutions taxpayer money, but, hey, that’s what happened thanks to Democrats in Congress working with Democrats at schools like Harvard. Kinda backfired, eh?
That is absolutely true. And no private university can require that the government support them.
I was going to express the same sentiment.
I wonder what they were doing in exchange for all that money. I suspect a whole lot of leftist activism. One of the things we learned from DOGE is just how much the Left was fully funded by the taxpayers while the Left undermined those same taxpayers.
[…] Also see: William Teach, “Trump Admin Cancels $2.3 Billion In Funding To Harvard“ […]
Money talks and withholding $2.3 billion of taxpayers money talks loudly.
We’ll see how long Garber holds out.
Bwaha! Lolgfy Harvard!
MAGA47 – A Real President!
Forty-seven imagines that part of his charge is to dismantle the education system of the United States – especially those ‘liberal’ research universities like Hahvahd, Columbia ($400 M), Penn ($1 billion), Duke/UNC ($2.2 billlion), U of Kentucky ($300 M), UCLA, Johns Hopkins, LSU ($500 M), U of Wisconsin, Washington University -St Lou ($730 M) etc.
These funds support students, training, university healthcare and scientific/medical research. Forty-seven’s handlers understand an uneducated populace is easier to control and rule.
The question is: Does 47 see Harvard as an example to get all the other universities to obey His rules, or will he gut all our research universities, public and private?
Do Americans favor medical research or should we just stop it to save money?
An aside… Donald Jesus Trump will spend more taxpayer money on golf ‘research’ this year than the University of Kentucky on medical research.
Yup, all these private universities with multi-billion dollar endowments are just going to dry up and blow away without all that sweet, sweet taxpayer lucre.
Just another example of blue being subsidized by red.
Ellie
If you take Caesar’s money then you do what Caesar says.
Jimmie,
If it only worked that way. Caesar was a dictator. Our ‘Emperor’ was elected, barely. Although Donnie Jesus Trump views himself as the Supreme Ruler, he is not. He’s just another government employee, answerable to the citizens.
Forty-seven’s handlers want our universities to teach caucasian, christian, conservative propaganda, science and history.
The Emperor has No Clothes! Gross.
Oddly enough, the esteemed Mr Dowd never seemed to combitch about colleges taking Caesar’s money and imposing Caesar’s dictates when it came to Affirmative Action and DEI and the sheltering of illegal immigrants.
But now, when Caesar is someone determined to protect Western civilization, fight anti-Semitism, and promote equality based on performance rather than ‘equity,’ by which it is meant equal outcomes rather than equal opportunities across demographic groups, Mr Dowd and the left at large are outraged.
Ellie
It doesn’t matter what Caesar was, if U take his money you do his bidding.
Jimbo,
Did you take federal money when President Biden was in office?
Why would I complain about Affirmative action and DEI, programs that I largely support?
It’s Mr Dana’s opinion that 47 is trying to protect western civilization, fight anti-Semitism and promote equality based on performance. It’s my opinion that 47 doesn’t care about any of that.
Rimjob supports tax funded antisemitism being taught in schools.
There’s propaganda…
then there’s Rimjob Propaganda.
Bwaha! Lolgf Loser!
MAGA47 – A Real Leader!
“Harvard confident it can harass its Jewish students even without Trump’s federal funding”
BB
Harvard has an endowment of 53 billion
2 billion is 4% of its endowment
Bro! Harvard is rich !
Liberals are stuffed full with cash
Yep!
And does Rimjob have a point?
Nah, didn’t th8nk so.
Bwaha! Lolgf Loser!
He who pays the piper calls the tune. Harvard has tons of money and lots of rich alumni. They don’t need my money.
A couple of other items to suspend for Harvard — Student Visas for a couple of years — Harvard don’t need no foreign student’s cash. Suspend the student loan and grant programs. Rich kids don’t need no stinkin’ federal assistance.
Jan Peter Blickenstaff in your insane rant in comment #9 above you sound exactly like over the edge Elwood does. But your last comment made sense. Rich kids don’t need no stinking federal assistance that is correct.
Porter Good doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Does he really believe only rich kids should go to the Harvards of the US? (Contrary to his tag line, he’s been blocking my criticisms of him.)
Fat Forty-seven hates the educated elites who have mocked him over the decades. He hates that Harvard, Yale or Princeton degrees confer respect that he’s never had.
All 47 wanted Harvard to do was:
screening foreign applicants “hostile to the American values and institutions”
allowing an external body to audit university departments for “viewpoint diversity”
close all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and offices
a comprehensive mask ban with immediate, serious penalties for violation “not less than suspension”
forbidding the recognition and funding of student groups or clubs that promote “criminal activity, illegal violence, or illegal harassment”
ending all affirmative action in faculty hiring and student admissions
promote faculty committed to the Trump demands, as articulated in the letter, and “reducing the power” of faculty and administrators
Harvard told forty-seven “nope”, as have several other universities.
Fewer dollars for research but more for Trump Inc!!
Yes, J-he definitely needs more money! Good catch
Jill,
You don’t understand the wealthy do you? They never have enough. They have all the creature comforts they and their family could ever need or want. Now it’s just about keeping score – padding their ego. Big Donnie had no reason to lie about his wealth, no reason to cheat on taxes, no reason to stiff his contractors… it’s a game for them. All about domination and submission.
There’s reasoned arguments…
then there’s Rimjob Arguments.
They are not the same.
Bwaha! Lolgf Loser!
You don’t understand that you should offer evidence that “there’s more for Trump”. I do understand how to make an argument quite well, though
Columbia capitulated and Fat 47 still withheld funding and made more demands. That’s just the way he does business. If you surrender he goes for the throat.
How is Trump University doing?
The basic biology, chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology and physics that forms the basis for ALL the advances that come from American pharma, diagnosis and medicine comes from research sponsored by the the United States government. If you or someone you know have had treatments for cancers, heart disease, COPD, mental illness, infections, Alzheimer’s and/or received diagnostic procedures. you have the US government to thank.
Could the system have been improved? No doubt. Will 47 and RFK Jr fix it? No…
You mean like the basic biology that discovered that male and female are determined by XY or XX chromosomes, and is unchangeable?
Besides being untrue, that has nothing to do with drug development.
Very few people have been karyotyped, therefore don’t know if they are XX or XY. It’s a common misunderstanding.
In addition, there are XX men and XY women, not to mention persons with indeterminate sex.