Cnn
–
The Trump administration plans to draw more dollars from federal subsidies and health research contracts at Harvard University in the midst of a growing battle and high issues between the government and the university for institutional surveillance and independence, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Last Monday, the Trump administration announced that it would freeze $ 2.2 billion in multi -year subsidies and $ 60 million in multi -year contract after Harvard said that it would not follow the administration policy requests.
People who were familiar with the case said that officials had been surprised when the university made public a letter from the working group to combat anti -Semitism, the newspaper reported on Sunday.
CNN contacted Harvard and the White House to comment.
“Before Monday, the administration planned to treat Harvard more indulgent than Columbia University, but now those responsible want to apply even more pressure at the country’s most important university, according to people,” reports the newspaper. “People familiar with Harvard’s response say that there was no agreement to keep the letter private and that its content – including the requirements that Harvard makes it possible to monitor the federal government of admissions, hiring and the ideology of students and staff – were a non -start.”
Last month, apparently conceding to the requests of the administration, the University of Columbia made political changes in a dispute over federal funding, including restrictions on demonstrations, new disciplinary procedures and immediately examines its study program of the Middle East, on the heels of the revocation by President Donald Trump of $ 400 million in federal funding compared to campus protests.
The newspaper reported on Sunday that according to people close to the issue, the working group thought that Harvard would also concede to his requests.
The threat of drawing additional funding is the last in the growing battle between university and government.
Harvard, who has become a symbol of Trump Defiance, firmly rejected requests in a letter of April 11, with President Alan Mr. Garber in a statement that “the university will not give up its independence or will not renounce its constitutional rights”.
Among the requests of the letter were the ban on masks during campus demonstrations, the reform of hiring and admissions based on merit and the reduction of power owned by teachers and administrators “more committed to activism than learning”.
The President of the University said that requests exceeded the power of the federal government and that the majority “represents the direct government regulations of” intellectual conditions “at Harvard” rather than fighting anti -Semitism.
On Wednesday, CNN indicated that the internal income service provided for canceling the university tax exemption status, according to two familiar sources with the issue. The administration that day also threatened Harvard’s ability to register foreign students.
The New York Times reported on Friday that the letter sent to the university on April 11 had been sent by mistake. The letter should not have been sent and was “unauthorized,” reported the Times, citing two anonymous people familiar with the issue.
A White House official did not comment CNN on the question of whether the letter was sent by mistake, but confirmed his authenticity on Saturday, telling CNN that the White House “stands near the letter”.
Meanwhile, Harvard told CNN that he did not question the authenticity of the letter and noted that the Trump administration had already frozen billions of federal funds to the prestigious university, among other actions.
The Governor of Massachusetts, Maura Healey, a graduate of Harvard, spoke on Sunday at the “Face The Nation” of CBS News of Trump pressure campaigns against his Alma Mater and other universities.
Trump’s pressure to revoke the non-profit status of Harvard University is “scandalous,” she said. “It’s part of this continuous game book that Donald Trump has used, which is to silence criticism.”
“First of all, he continued the law firms, then continued his businesses, then he continued the Americans every day. Now he goes after colleges and universities, using all the tactics to try to close them, to silence them,” said Healey.
Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Betsy Klein and Liz Enoch contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional information.
