The Trump administration on Monday threatened to cut all federal funding to Harvard University, saying that its investigation has concluded that civil rights of Jewish students had been violated.
A letter sent to the Ivy League school said that the university was in violation of civil rights laws that requires colleges to protect students from discrimination based on race or nationality.
The Trump administration investigators found that Harvard was at times a “willful participant in anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish students, faculty, and staff”, the letter said, adding that campus leaders let the anti-semitism grow on the campus.
“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” The Associated Press reported, citing the official letter.
Trump vs Harvard
Harvard has already lost more than $2.6 billion in federal funding after it rejected a list of demands from President Donald Trump, calling for a massive overhaul in campus hiring, admissions, and governance.
Late in May, Trump continued his tirade against the prestigious university and suggested that the institution limit the number of foreign students it admits. He had said that American students, who wished to study at Harvard and other Ivy League schools, were unable to get admission because of foreign students.
“I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15%, not 31%,” Trump had said. He added, “We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, but they can’t get in because we have foreign students there.”
The President then exercised its authority to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students. The administration revoked the university’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
This meant that Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students, and the existing ones were to either transfer or lose their legal status.
The Ivy League school took legal action and sued the Trump administration, calling its ban on foreign students’ enrolment an unconstitutional retaliation for resisting the White House’s political demands.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” the university had said in its lawsuit.
Earlier this month, Donald Trump announced that Harvard had engaged in talks with his administration officials to resolve the long-standing tiff.
“They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.
He added, “If a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be ‘mindbogglingly’ HISTORIC, and very good for our Country.”
