Harvard Says It Will Not Comply With Trump Administration's Demands [View all]
Last edited Mon Apr 14, 2025, 05:44 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: New York Times
April 14, 2025 Updated 5:27 p.m. ET
Harvard University said on Monday that it had rejected policy changes requested by the Trump administration, becoming the first university to directly refuse to comply with the administration's demands and setting up a showdown between the federal government and the nation's wealthiest university.
Other universities have pushed back against the Trump administration's interference in higher education. But Harvard's response, which essentially called the Trump administration's demands illegal, marked a major shift in tone for the nation's most influential school, which has been criticized in recent weeks for capitulating to Trump administration pressure.
A letter the Trump administration sent to Harvard on Friday demanded that the university reduce the power of students and faculty members over the university's affairs; report foreign students who commit conduct violations immediately to federal authorities; and bring in an outside party to ensure that each academic department is "viewpoint diverse," among other steps. The administration did not define what it meant by viewpoint diversity, but it has generally referred to seeking a range of political views, including conservative perspectives.
"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," said Alan Garber, Harvard's president, in a statement to the university on Monday.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/harvard-trump-reject-demands.html
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Original article -
Harvard University said on Monday that it had rejected policy changes requested by the Trump administration that would have placed "unprecedented" demands on the institution, setting up a showdown between the administration and the nation's wealthiest university.
A letter to Harvard from the Trump administration on Friday demanded that the university reduce the power of students and faculty members over the university's affairs; report foreign students who commit conduct violations immediately to federal authorities; and bring in an outside party to ensure that each academic department is "viewpoint diverse," among other steps.
"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," said Alan Garber, Harvard's president, in a statement to the university on Monday.
Lawyers for Harvard said in response to the administration's letter that the university "is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration."
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