The Trump administration said on Monday that it was reviewing roughly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts awarded to Harvard, accusing the school of allowing antisemitism to run unchecked on its campus.
In a statement on Monday, the administration said it was examining about $256 million in contracts, as well as another $8.7 billion in what it described as “multiyear grant commitments.”
“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, a senior official at the General Services Administration, said in a statement.
“This administration has proven that we will take swift action to hold institutions accountable if they allow antisemitism to fester,” he added. “We will not hesitate to act if Harvard fails to do so.”
Alan M. Garber, Harvard’s president, was not immediately available for comment. But he has previously emphasized the importance of federal money to the university’s operation.
“We could not carry out our mission the way we do now without substantial federal research support, nor could we provide the benefits to the nation that we do now without that support,” Dr. Garber said in a December interview with The Harvard Crimson, the campus newspaper.
The threatened action against Harvard followed a decision, made public on March 7, to cut about $400 million in funding for Columbia “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” Desperate to restart the funding, Columbia agreed two weeks later to comply with preconditions demanded by the administration, a step toward regaining the money.
In February, Harvard was placed on a list of 10 universities, including Columbia, under scrutiny by an antisemitism task force formed by the Trump administration, which said it planned to visit the schools.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.