WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is ramping up his criticism of Harvard University amid a battle over rejected demands from his administration and federal funding as other schools are lining up to back the Ivy League institution.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social on Wednesday morning, Trump railed against Harvard, declaring it had “lost its way." The president specifically honed in on faculty at the school, mentioning Claudine Gay, the former Harvard University president who faced backlash over her testimony in front of a congressional committee about antisemitism on college campuses.
“Many others, like these Leftist dopes, are teaching at Harvard, and because of that, Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges,” Trump wrote. “Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”
The pointed rhetoric from the president regarding the institution followed his threat Tuesday to strip Harvard of its tax exempt status and instead tax it as a political entity for “pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’”
Hours after the president levied the suggestion, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called on the university to apologize, including for the “egregious antisemitism that took place on their college campus,” and questioned more broadly the merit of federal funding for higher education.
The escalating feud between the Ivy League institution and the White House follows the administration’s decision to freeze more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts with Harvard after the university announced it would not comply its requested policy changes seeking to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and activism on campus.
“The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights," university representatives wrote in a letter Monday. "Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement in principle.”
The Trump administration has embarked on an effort to crack down on DEI policies and activism in higher education and push back against colleges it argues are allowing antisemitism to fester, particularly during the wave of protests against Israel that took place on campuses across the country last year in response to the Israel-Hamas war. The administration's campaign has also merged with its immigration agenda as it has stripped individual foreign students who it says engaged in political activism of their student visas.
The move by Harvard is the most high-profile outright rejection of the administration’s demands on the matter and has led multiple other elite universities to speak out in support of the university.
In a post on LinkedIn on Tuesday, Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber quoted from a letter his counterpart at Harvard published for the school community, encouraging people to read it in full and added “Princeton stands with Harvard.”
Stanford University and representatives from Yale University also expressed support for the cause.
“Universities need to address legitimate criticisms with humility and openness,” Stanford President Jonathan Levin and Provost Jenny Martinez wrote in a statement. “ But the way to bring about constructive change is not by destroying the nation’s capacity for scientific research, or through the government taking command of a private institution. Harvard’s objections to the letter it received are rooted in the American tradition of liberty, a tradition essential to our country’s universities, and worth defending.”
Meanwhile, Columbia University — which was at the center of the wave of pro-Palestinian protests at colleges last spring — appeared to commend Harvard for “refusing the federal government’s demands for changes to policies and practices that would strike at the very heart of that university’s venerable mission.”
The statement from Columbia is notable given the university’s decision to announce policy changes and negotiate with the administration after the White House similarly sought to strip the school of federal funds.
“Where the government — or any stakeholder — has legitimate interest in critical issues for our healthy functioning, we will listen and respond,” Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, wrote in a letter. “But we would reject heavy-handed orchestration from the government that could potentially damage our institution and undermine useful reforms that serve the best interests of our students and community.”
Prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, have also praised Harvard's decision.