Harvard University President Alan Garber on Tuesday urged schools to stand “firm” against the Trump administration — a day after the commander-in-chief threatened to yank even more federal cash from the Ivy League.
Garber told NPR that Trump’s war on the elite school and his decision to freeze billions in federal grants due, in part to antisemitism on campus, was “perplexing.”
“What is perplexing is the measures that they have taken to address these that don’t even hit the same people that they believe are causing the problems,” Garber said.
“Why cut off research funding? Sure, it hurts Harvard, but it hurts the country because after all, the research funding is not a gift. The research funding is given to universities and other research institutions to carry out work — research work — that the federal government designates as high-priority work. It is work that they want done. They are paying to have that work conducted.”
He added: “Shutting off that work does not help the country, even as it punishes Harvard, and it is hard to see the link between that and, say, antisemitism.”
It comes after Trump on Monday said he was considering pulling $3 billion in federal grants away from a “very antisemitic” university to instead invest in trade schools across the country.
In recent weeks, the Trump admin has already frozen roughly $3.2 billion in grants and contracts with the elite school – arguing the Ivy League has failed to crack down on antisemitism and engages in alleged “race discrimination” in its admission and hiring processes.
Amid the escalating battle with the White House, Garber on Tuesday urged other educational institutions to double down on what they stand for.
“I would say that we need to be firm in our commitments to what we stand for. And what we stand for – I believe I speak for other universities – is education, pursuit of the truth, helping to educate people for better futures,” he told NPR.
“In the end, we’re about producing and disseminating knowledge and serving our nation and our world. When we fail in that, then we can expect to be attacked,” he continued.
His remarks came just as it emerged the Trump administration was planning to cancel all remaining federal contracts with the elite school.
The fresh cuts — worth roughly $100 million — are detailed in a memo that will be fired off to all federal agencies early Tuesday, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Post.The letter, signed by the US General Services Administration, instructs the agencies to “seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered Harvard.”