So far, 2025 has been a rough year for Harvard. Now that the new Trump administration is in place, business as usual is over. The media keeps trying to frame this as Trump trying to bend higher education to his will, when in reality, all the Trump administration is trying to do is end the antisemitism and other civil rights violations that have been happening on college campuses.Harvard is a school that sets trends in higher education. Whether they like it or not, other schools look at them to see how to act and the Trump administration is clearly making an example of them.Harvard has already lost a significant amount of funding in this feud, and now they could lose more.The Boston Globe reports:
‘A bloodbath’: Trump administration moves to terminate scores of federal grants at HarvardIn yet another escalation of its fight against higher education, the Trump administration has moved to terminate scores of research grants at Harvard University and its medical school, imperiling dozens of research projects and potentially upending the futures of young scientists.Harvard researchers who rely on federal grants to study cancer, infectious diseases and a broad range of other topics began receiving termination notices en masse on Thursday from a number of federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Defense and the US Department of Energy, according to emails shared with the Globe.The termination notices threaten tens of millions of dollars in research funding for Harvard and affect a broad swath of the university’s scientific community, including graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who are dependent on federal funding for income.Harvard researchers have been bracing for a large wave of termination notices since the Trump administration moved in mid-April to freeze $2.2 billion in grants and contracts. Yet even after the funding freeze, many researchers held out hope that the freeze would be lifted or their particular projects would be exempted.
It’s not just about funding.
Ed Morrissey of Hot Air points to a new report from the New York Times that suggests people at Harvard are even worried about possible criminal charges:
The investigations of Harvard’s policies and practices have thus far involved grants and other federal subsidies, along with potential civil liability for racial and religious discrimination.According to the New York Times today, though, the concern over criminal liabilities has begun to prey on the minds of Harvard officials.
Harvard has basked in acclaim from White House critics for fighting back so far. After Mr. Trump threatened the school’s federal funding, Harvard sued the administration, and legal experts said the university has a strong case.But behind closed doors, several senior officials at Harvard and on its top governing board have acknowledged they are in an untenable crisis. Even if Harvard quickly wins in court, they have determined, the school will still face wide-ranging funding problems and continuing investigations by the administration.Some university officials even fear that the range of civil investigations could turn into full-blown criminal inquiries.
Even Bill Ackman, who has very moderate views, is siding with Trump in this battle, and as we and others have pointed out, even with their massive endowment, Harvard cannot win a prolonged fight with the federal government.
Harvard needs to drop the ‘resistance’ act and return to its roots.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY