IBL News | New York
The Trump Administration announced yesterday it will undertake a “comprehensive review of federal contracts and grants” at Harvard University and its affiliates to combat anti-semitism and purge pro-Palestinian voices.
Harvard is the latest Ivy League institution to be targeted by President Trump after Columbia University agreed to comply with demands.
The Departments of Education (ED), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) will review, through the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, the more than $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard University, its affiliates, and the Federal Government.
The review will also include the more than $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard University and its affiliates “to ensure the university’s compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities.”
“Today’s actions by the Task Force follow a similar ongoing review of Columbia University,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
That review led to Columbia’s agreement to comply with nine preconditions for further negotiations regarding the return of canceled federal funds.
Ivy League universities — and Columbia in particular — were an epicentre of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the U.S., after Israel launched a war against Gaza in October 2023.
Similar protests around the country followed by student encampments on Columbia’s lawn in April and May 2024, as campus activists criticized school ties to Israel and called for an end of the war in Gaza.
