(NEW YORK)–On April 11, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard University, claiming that Harvard had “failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment.” To ensure continued federal funding, the letter listed a series of demands that included: the university must change its hiring and admissions practices, end all diversity, equity and inclusion programs and offices, screen international students for terrorism and antisemitism, end support for all clubs that the administration says engaged in antisemitism, and institute new student disciplinary procedures. On April 14, attorneys for Harvard University responded to the Trump administration’s letter, unequivocally refusing to capitulate to the government’s demands. In a letter to the Harvard community, Dr. Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, further articulated the university’s position and values, reaffirming Harvard’s unwavering rejection of the Trump administration’s demands. In response the Trump administration has frozen $2.2 billion in federal grants.
PEN America’s Campus Free Speech program director, Kristen Shahverdian released the following statement regarding Harvard University’s position:
“It is extremely heartening to see Harvard University stand up to the Trump administration’s absurd and dangerous demands that would effectively give the federal government enormous control over a private university. The Trump administration is attempting to bring higher education to heel, curbing faculty influence and forcing changes to admissions, hiring, and even student disciplinary procedures in order to punish views it dislikes.
Federal funding for higher education serves the greater good – from medical research to innovations in engineering and agriculture. Withholding $2 billion because Harvard University would not acquiesce to the Trump administration’s demands is not simply a disservice to Harvard, but to the entire country – and world – which benefits from higher education’s mission to pursue truth and new knowledge. We hope that Harvard University’s refusal to capitulate to the government will embolden other institutions to follow its lead and to provide a much needed bulwark to the Trump administration’s attempts to obliterate the independence of higher education and trample on Harvard’s First Amendment rights. At a time when we have seen law firms, news outlets and universities fold under Trump’s pressure, we applaud Harvard University for holding the line.”
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Malka Margolies, [email protected], 718-530-3582