Harvard president says Education Sec McMahon, federal government 'overreach' on grant withholding

Harvard University President Alan Garber pushed back on Education Secretary Linda McMahon saying the Ivy League school is ineligible for new federal grants, claiming the federal government is overreaching.

“We share common ground on a number of critical issues, including the importance of ending antisemitism and other bigotry on campus,” Garber said in his letter to McMahon, adding that Harvard “should embrace a multiplicity of viewpoints rather than focusing our attention on narrow orthodoxies,” according to The Hill news outlet. 

However, those goals are “undermined and threatened by the federal government’s overreach into the constitutional freedoms of private universities and its continuing disregard of Harvard’s compliance with the law,” he also said.

Garber's letter was sent to McMahon after she told Harvard last week that it is no longer eligible to receive new federal research grants. McMahon claimed Harvard has lowered its academic standards, allowed antisemitism on campus, and ignored the 2023 Supreme Court decision eliminating affirmative action in college admissions.

She also said the Trump administration wants “common sense reforms,” including changes to hiring and admissions before Harvard will again be eligible for grants.

The Trump administration cut $2.2 billion in federal funding that Harvard was receiving after the university refused to eliminate DEI and reform programs with a history of antisemitism. Harvard filed a lawsuit last month against the Trump administration over the federal funding cut.

“Consistent with the law and with our own values, we continue to pursue needed reforms, doing so in consultation with our stakeholders and always in compliance with the law. But Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government,” Garber said. 

“That is why we have gone to court to address the government’s unlawful attempt to control fundamental aspects of our university’s operations,” he continued.

“I hope you will take my response to your letter in the spirit in which it is intended: to convey Harvard’s unwavering commitment to compliance with the law, to the elimination of antisemitism and other bigotry on our campus, and to academic excellence,” Garber concluded.