The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Monday that it would be terminating $60 million in federal grants to Harvard University, citing the institution’s failure to address antisemitic harassment and ethnic discrimination on its campus. This move adds to the growing list of actions taken by the Trump administration, which has already frozen or cut nearly $3 billion in federal grants and contracts to the Ivy League school in recent weeks.
Since Donald Trump assumed the presidency in January, his administration has taken a hard stance on U.S. academia, claiming that many institutions, including Harvard, are influenced by anti-American, Marxist, and “radical left” ideologies. One of the administration’s main points of contention with Harvard is its alleged use of ethnicity in reviewing student applications. The government also claims that Harvard has not taken adequate steps to curb discrimination against Jewish students, especially in light of the pro-Palestinian protests that took place on campuses across the country last year.
This decision is not an isolated one. Columbia University in New York has also faced similar accusations regarding antisemitism, signaling a broader wave of scrutiny directed at academic institutions that have been accused of failing to address hate speech and discriminatory behavior.
In its announcement, the HHS emphasized that Harvard’s continued inability to confront antisemitic harassment and racial discrimination directly resulted in the termination of several multi-year grant awards. The department also stated that the grants would be ended for their full duration, a decision that could have significant financial repercussions for ongoing research projects at the university.
Harvard University did not immediately provide a comment in response to a request from Reuters. However, the institution has previously argued that it cannot absorb the full financial burden of the frozen grants, and it has been working with affected researchers to help them secure alternative funding sources. In addition, Harvard has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, contesting the cuts and seeking to reverse the decision.
This latest action follows a high-profile lawsuit settlement earlier this month, where Harvard reached an agreement with an Orthodox Jewish student who alleged that the university had ignored antisemitism on campus. This lawsuit was settled just four months after Harvard had promised stronger protections for Jewish students. At that time, Harvard also resolved two other lawsuits that accused the university of fostering an environment where antisemitism was allowed to thrive.
The settlement, along with the university’s ongoing legal battles, underscores the tensions between the Trump administration and institutions like Harvard. These actions are part of a broader political strategy by the president to challenge the perceived dominance of left-wing ideologies in American academia, an issue that has become a central theme of his administration’s culture wars.
As the legal battles unfold, the future of Harvard’s research funding—and its ability to respond to these serious accusations—remains uncertain. What is clear is that this conflict between the university and the Trump administration is not likely to be resolved anytime soon, leaving many to wonder what the long-term consequences will be for higher education in the U.S.
