‘The University will not negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights,’ Alan M. Garber said.

On Monday, Harvard University rejected the Trump administration’s demands to make sweeping changes to its governance, hiring and admissions practices, despite billions of dollars in federal funding being at risk if it fails to comply.

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“We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement. The University will not negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights. The administration’s prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government,” Harvard University President Alan M. Garber wrote in a letter to members of the Harvard Community.

“Harvard is committed to fighting antisemitism and other forms of bigotry in its community,” two attorneys representing the university wrote in a letter Monday, while noting that “Harvard is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration.”

On Friday, Trump administration officials sent a letter to Harvard, demanding that the university make “meaningful governance reform and restructuring,” noting that “an investment is not an entitlement.”

“Harvard has in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment. We therefore present the below provisions as the basis for an agreement in principle that will maintain Harvard’s financial relationship with the federal government,” according to the letter.

The demands include: adopting and implementing merit-based hiring and admissions policies, and ceasing all preferences based on race, color, and national origin; reforming the recruitment, screening, and admissions of international students to prevent admitting students hostile to the American values and institutions, including students supportive of terrorism or antisemitism; reforming programs with “egregious records of antisemitism”; and shutting down all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funding to the country’s top universities, pressuring them to implement major changes. It recently announced that it was reviewing US$9 billion in federal funding to Harvard and its affiliates.

Hours after Harvard’s authorities rejected the above-mentioned demands, the federal government announced a freeze on US$2.2 billion in multi-year grants and a US$60 million contract to Harvard.

Columbia University, which was at the heart of last year’s pro-Palestinian protests, became the first institution to face consequences, losing US$400 million in federal funding last month. University officials said they are currently in ongoing discussions with the administration to have the funding reinstated. 

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

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