New Delhi: Harvard University in the US replied to the Trump administration on Monday that it would "not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights".
In a letter to Harvard on Friday, the administration called for broad government and leadership reforms, a requirement that calls for Harvard to adopt "merit-based" admissions and hiring policies as well as conduct an audit of the study body, faculty and leadership on their views about diversity. Following the University's reply, the administration said it was freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts with the University.
"Harvard has in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment. But we appreciate your expression of commitment to repairing those failures and welcome your collaboration in restoring the University to its promise," read the letter addressed to Dr Alan M Garber, President of the University and Penny Pritzker, Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation.
The letter is seen as part of the recent clampdown on pro-Palestine protests across campuses in the US, including Columbia University.
The administration in its letter asked the University to end support and recognition of those "student groups or clubs that engaged in anti-Semitic activity since October 7th, 2023, including the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee, Harvard Graduates Students 4 Palestine, Law Students4 Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine, and the National Lawyers Guild".
It also asked them to discipline and render ineligible the officers and active members of those student organisations. The letter also asked the University to reduce "the power held by students and untenured faculty; reducing the power held by faculty (whether tenured or untenured) and administrators more committed to activism than scholarship".
Commenting on the hiring and admission procedures of the University, the administration asked it to "cease all preferences based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin throughout its hiring, promotion, compensation, and related practices among faculty, staff, and leadership". It also went on to say that all the data pertaining to admissions and hiring "shall be shared with the federal government and subjected to a comprehensive audit by the federal government".
"The University must reform its recruitment, screening, and admissions of international students to prevent admitting students hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, including students supportive of terrorism or anti-Semitism," the administration said in the letter.
The US administration asked the University to "immediately shutter all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices, committees, positions, and initiatives, under whatever name, and stop all DEI-based policies, including DEI-based disciplinary or speech control policies, under whatever name".
Harvard University Response
Harvard University, in its response, said that it "is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration".
Enumerating the measures taken to counter "antisemitism and discrimination of any kind," the University said," We have imposed meaningful discipline for those who violate university policies; enhanced programs designed to address bias and promote ideological diversity and civil discourse".
"Harvard is committed to fighting antisemitism and other forms of bigotry in its community. Antisemitism and discrimination of any kind not only are abhorrent and antithetical to Harvard's values but also threaten its academic mission", the University said.
The reply further said," The government's terms also circumvent Harvard's statutory rights by requiring unsupported and disruptive remedies for alleged harms that the government has not proven through mandatory processes established by Congress and required by law".
"Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government's terms as an agreement in principle. Harvard remains open to dialogue about what the university has done, and is planning to do, to improve the experience of every member of its community," the University said in its reply.
