Washington (AP) – The Trump Administration has published a list of requests from Harvard University must answer as a condition to receive nearly $ 9 billion in grants and contracts, federal money that is be threatened During an investigation into campus anti -Semitism.
In a letter to the president of Harvard Thursday, three federal agencies described the requests described as necessary for a “continuous financial relationship” with the government. It is similar to a request letter that invited changes At Columbia University under the threat of billions of dollars in cups.
Some former faculty members implored Harvard to repel, denouncing government intervention as an attack on academic freedom.
The government’s letter is a “dominance test”, not an effort to combat anti -Semitism, said Kirsten Weld, Harvard history professor and president of the American Association of University Campus.
“If Harvard, the richest university on the planet, reaches these requests, the working group will not disappear – it will simply return with additional requests, just like a tyrant of the school court,” said Weld in a statement. “Harvard must contest this manifestly illegal attack in court.”
Harvard is the fifth school of the Ivy League targeted in an administration pressure campaign, which has also interrupted federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania,, BrownAnd Princeton To force compliance with its program.
The letter describes Harvard’s federal money as an investment of taxpayers based on performance. Harvard has “fundamentally failed to protect US students and teachers from anti -Semitic violence and harassment” and must take immediate measures to maintain funding, the letter said.
Harvard did not comment beyond the confirmation of the letter.
The letter requires a ban on facial masks, a request that was also made in Columbia and target pro-Palestinian demonstrators who have sometimes worn masks to hide their identity. Harvard must also clarify his discourse policies on the campus which limit the time, the place and the manner of protests and other activities.
Harvard’s university departments according to which “anti -Semitic harassment feeds” must be examined and modified to resolve biases and improve the diversity from a point of view, according to the letter. He only does the campus department or commands a change of leadership, as officials of the Trump administration have done so for the Middle East Studies department in Columbia.
Requests are generally less normative than Columbia Ultimatum, calling mainly to large changes focused on “lasting structural reforms”, according to the letter. He also does not provide a deadline, while Columbia received about a week to comply.
In a letter to the university leaders on Thursday, a group of former students said that Harvard should “legally challenge and refuse to comply with illegal requirements that threaten academic freedom and university self-government”.
“It’s a moment for courage, not capitulation,” said Anurima Bhargava, one of the elders of the letter. “It is an illegal attack and an attempt to force Harvard by threatening the very cornerstone of the institution, which is its researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and academics.”
Some others supported this decision. Alexander “Shabbos” Kestenbaum, a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School who continues the university about campus anti -Semitism, said that Trump’s republican administration was right to threaten the money.
“In the same way that the federal government has threatened to retain the funds of racist school districts which refused to integrate, the power of the bag is the last tool available to compel Harvard to treat all its students with equality and justice,” wrote Kestenbaum in an opinion article for the newspaper of Crimsis.
Certain requests from the letter align with Trump’s political agenda but seem less directly linked to the investigation into anti -Semitism.
It includes adoption orders of admissions and hires “based on merit” and to remove all preferences based on race, religion, sex or other characteristics. Harvard must also work to finish Diversity, equity and inclusion programs Who teach students and teachers to “make instant judgments on each other according to the stereotypes of raw and raw identity”, said the letter.
The letter indicates separately that Harvard must comply with a federal law requiring the disclosure of foreign donations and contracts, a priority of certain Republicans in the Congress which have raised concerns concerning Chinese influence in American schools.
He was sent by managers of the General Services Administration, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Services.
Federal officials informed Harvard on Monday that the university faces an examination to determine its eligibility to receive $ 255 million in contracts and more than $ 8 billion in grants.
Harvard president Alan Garber replied with a message on the campus saying that the school had “devoted considerable efforts to the fight against anti -Semitism” and would ensure complete accounts to the government.
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The journalist of Associated Press, Michael Casey, contributed to this Boston report.
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