The Trump administration acted quickly Monday to punish Harvard University after it refused to comply with a list of demands from the federal govt that the school said were unlawful.
On Monday afternoon, Harvard became the first university to refuse to comply with the administration’s requirements, setting up a showdown between the federal govt and the nation’s wealthiest university. By evening, federal officials said they would freeze $2.2 billion in multiyear grants to Harvard, along with a $60 million contract.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status and be taxed as a political entity if it doesn’t submit to his demands for the college to change the way it runs itself.
Other universities have pushed back against the administration’s interference in higher education. But Harvard’s response, which called the Trump administration’s demands illegal, marked a major shift in tone for the nation’s most influential school, which has been criticised for capitulating to Trump administration pressure. A Trump administration letter to Harvard Friday demanded it reduce the power of students and faculty members over the university’s affairs.
