Trump escalates battle with Harvard
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump s administration on Monday intensified its battle with Harvard University formally finding the school tolerated antisemitism a step that could jeopardize all of Harvard s federal funding including federal participant aid In a letter sent to Harvard a federal task force reported its probe had located the university was a willful participant in antisemitic harassment of Jewish students and faculty The task force threatened to refer the episode to the Justice Department to file a civil rights lawsuit as soon as accomplishable unless Harvard comes into compliance The finding escalates the White House s conflict with Harvard which has faced mounting sanctions after rejecting a list of federal demands calling for sweeping changes to campus governance hiring and admissions Already the leadership has slashed more than billion in research grants But the civil rights violation could jeopardize Harvard s eligibility to accept federal loans or grants for students to attend the university a penalty often referred to as a death sentence in higher mentoring Failure to institute adequate changes promptly will development in the loss of all federal financial materials and continue to affect Harvard s relationship with the federal regime bureaucrats announced in the letter which was obtained by The Associated Press and first shared by The Wall Street Journal The Trump administration for months has accused Harvard of tolerating antisemitism on its campus but a formal investigative finding gives the administration a channel to block more federal funding Trump personally has railed against Harvard but on June suggested a deal resolving the monthslong conflict could be coming soon In a post on social media Trump stated Harvard has acted extremely appropriately during negotiations He did not elaborate on the terms of a anticipated resolution Harvard has not commented on whether it is negotiating with the White House On Monday Harvard stated it strongly disagrees with the ruling body s findings and is committed to fighting bias Antisemitism is a serious obstacle and no matter the context it is unacceptable the university commented in a announcement Harvard has taken substantive proactive actions to address the root causes of antisemitism in its population Federal executives made their situation in a -page statement detailing an examination by the civil rights office of the Department of Medical and Human Services The agency is among several represented on a federal antisemitism task force The authorities s inspection largely relied on a campus antisemitism analysis commissioned by Harvard and issued in April Federal agents cited numerous details from that account including accounts of Jewish students who disclosed they were spit on and faced chants on campus including Heil Hitler It focuses heavily on last year s protests over the Israel-Hamas war In the letter to Harvard federal functionaries mentioned the campus was overrun by an impermissible multiweek encampment that left Jewish and Israeli students fearful and disrupted their studies It accuses Harvard of imposing lax and inconsistent discipline against students who participated in the encampment noting that none were suspended Harvard President Alan Garber has acknowledged problems with antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias on campus but he says Harvard has made strides to fight prejudice He informed new initiatives in April upon release of the antisemitism inquiry Harvard cannot and will not abide bigotry Garber wrote at the time The Monday letter finds Harvard violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of Such findings have almost constantly been resolved through voluntary resolutions between schools and the federal executive The Trump administration has taken a much sharper edge than its predecessors however It has been decades since an administration even attempted to strip a school or college of its federal funding over civil rights violations Trump personnel are seeking that outcome in a Justice Department lawsuit against Maine over transgender athletes and it s threatening the same action in a similar scrutiny into California Trump leaders have barraged Harvard with sanctions after it became the first university to defy White House demands addressing accusations of antisemitism and liberal bias Along with research cuts the administration has attempted to bar Harvard from hosting foreign students and President Donald Trump has noted the school should lose its tax-exempt status Harvard s previous funding cuts were carried out under a provision allowing the leadership to end grants and contracts that no longer align with federal priorities That strategy is held to be unprecedented and is being challenged in court But by invoking a civil rights violation the regime has put Harvard on an established path to further penalties President Donald Trump points to a reporter to take a question as he speaks to the media on Friday AP Photo Jacquelyn Martin
