Former President Barack Obama praised his alma mater, Harvard University, on Monday for refusing to cave to the Trump administration’s demands in order to keep billions in federal funding.
“Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions — rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect,” Obama wrote Monday night on X. “Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”
The former president’s comments come after Harvard announced it will not comply with the Trump administration’s so-called Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism’s demands to close diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, implement a mask ban at protests, expel students involved in pro-Palestinian protests and adopt merit-based admissions and hiring policies to end preferences based on race, color or national origin.
“The administration’s prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government. It violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI,” Harvard President Alan M. Garber wrote in a statement
“And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production and dissemination of knowledge. No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Garber added.
The Trump administration responded by freezing over $2.2 billion in federal funding for Harvard University.
“It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the task force said in its statement.
The Trump administration has also threatened to pull funding from Columbia University, Brown University, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania. Harvard is the first institution to push back.
Columbia has bent the knee to the Trump administration to avoid further targeting.
