The Trump administration will review Harvard’s federal contracts and grants as part of another … More
Harvard University is the latest target of the Trump administration’s ever-expanding investigation into elite universities.
Today, the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and the U.S. General Services Administration announced a comprehensive review of federal contracts and grants at Harvard and its affiliates as part of the investigations being conducted by the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.
According to the news release, the Task Force will review $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard University, its affiliates and the federal government. The scrutiny will also include more than $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard University and its affiliates. Which specific grants and contracts will be targeted was not revealed.
“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, in the press release.
“Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic 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,” continued McMahon, sounding very much like she had already determined the results of the investigation.
The announcement of the Harvard probe comes just about two weeks after the Trump administration sent Columbia University a letter demanding several changes it would have to make in order to continue receiving federal funding, including the restoration of $4oo million that was canceled over charges of antisemitism.
That letter set out nine steps the university had to take “as a precondition for formal negotiations regarding Columbia University’s continued financial relationship with the United States government.”
Within a week, Columbia University agreed to meet most of the far-ranging demands, which touched on areas such as admissions, academic organization and oversight, student disciplinary procedures, faculty search processes, campus safety, and definitions of antisemitism. Last Friday, the fallout continued when Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, abruptly announced she was stepping down from her position.
Today’s announcement did not indicate any specific demands that the administration was making of Harvard, but if history is any guide, those are likely to come very soon.
The federal government will work with relevant contracting agencies “to assess whether Stop Work Orders should be issued for any identified contracts,” according to the press release. In addition, it directed Harvard to submit a comprehensive list of all contracts for review.
“While Harvard’s recent actions to curb institutionalized antisemitism — though long overdue — are welcome, there is much more that the university must do to retain the privilege of receiving federal taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars,” Josh Gruenbaum, an official with the General Services Administration and a task force member, said in a statement.
“This administration has proven that we will take swift action to hold institutions accountable if they allow antisemitism to fester,” Gruenbaum added. “We will not hesitate to act if Harvard fails to do so.”
Harvard, now squarely in the cross-hairs of the government’s extraordinarily aggressive campaign targeting premier research universities, will quickly need to decide whether to resist or yield to the new pressure as it seeks to protect hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
Source link
