The Trump administration is investigating billions of dollars in federal grants and contracts to Harvard University, notifying the school in a letter on Monday that it has failed to address antisemitism on campus.
According to a source familiar with the review, President Donald Trump’s antisemitism task force is investigating $255.6 million in contracts and $8.7 billion in multiyear grant commitments between the government and Harvard.
A source familiar with the review said the investigation is being launched over concerns about Harvard failing to abide by its civil rights law responsibilities. The source warned that, should Harvard not address the concerns from the task force about antisemitism and take steps this week, it could begin to lose funding.
The news comes as the Trump administration is in negotiations with Columbia University over $400 million in federal funding. The administration initially froze funding to the school before offering preconditions to win the money back. Columbia interim president Katrina Armstrong resigned Friday, days after she appeared to privately contradict her public commitments to the administration to combat antisemitism.
“Harvard has served as a symbol of the American dream for generations—the pinnacle aspiration for students all over the world to work hard and earn admission to the storied institution,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from antisemitic discrimination—all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry—has put its reputation in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus.”
The government’s review will impact Harvard’s various affiliates, which include various research institutions, the source said. Harvard was one of 60 schools that the Department of Education sent letters to in early March warning of potential enforcement actions over alleged failures to protect Jewish students on campus.
“This administration has proven that we will take swift action to hold institutions accountable if they allow antisemitism to fester,” said Josh Gruenbaum, a member of Trump’s antisemitism task force. “We will not hesitate to act if Harvard fails to do so.”
Last January, Harvard’s then-president Claudine Gay resigned after criticism of the school’s handling of antisemitism on campus in the weeks and months after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
A Harvard spokesperson pointed The Free Press to a statement from its president, Alan Garber, that said cutting its funding “will halt life-saving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation.”
“The government has informed us that they are considering this action because they are concerned that the University has not fulfilled its obligations to curb and combat antisemitic harassment,” the statement read. “We fully embrace the important goal of combatting antisemitism, one of the most insidious forms of bigotry. Urgent action and deep resolve are needed to address this serious problem that is growing across America and around the world. It is present on our campus. I have experienced antisemitism directly, even while serving as president, and I know how damaging it can be to a student who has come to learn and make friends at a college or university.”
