Trump admin. accuses Harvard of ‘violent violation' of civil rights law: A timeline of the president's war with the university

Yahoo

2 days ago

The Trump administration on Monday accused Harvard of being in 'violent violation' of federal civil rights laws by allegedly failing to stop antisemitism on its campus. In a letter sent to the university, the administration's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism threatened to cut off 'all federal financial resources' if Harvard doesn't 'institute adequate changes immediately.'
The move marked the latest escalation in the ongoing back-and-forth between the president and Harvard, which has come under a barrage of attacks in the months since President Trump returned to office. The administration has already taken away billions of dollars in federal research grants, attempted to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status and tried to block the school from hosting international students.
Since returning to office, Trump has mounted a sweeping campaign to impose his ideological worldview on some of the country's most prominent universities, revoking hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from schools like Columbia, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. But no college has faced the kinds of attacks that Harvard has.
Harvard has not responded publicly to Monday's letter, but its president, Alan M. Garber, has previously condemned the administration's 'unlawful and unwarranted' actions. The university has reportedly been negotiating a possible settlement with the administration that would potentially offer the school some relief in exchange for accepting some of the administration's terms for how it should reshape its internal policies.
Trump expressed confidence that the two sides could strike a deal in a post on Truth Social earlier this month, writing that Harvard had acted 'extremely appropriately' during their discussions and that the terms of the agreement would be ''mindbogglingly' HISTORIC' if it is finalized. It's unclear how Monday's action by the administration might affect those ongoing negotiations.
Here's a timeline of the most aggressive actions the Trump administration has taken against Harvard and how the school has responded.
March 31: The administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announces it will conduct a 'comprehensive review' of nearly $9 billion in contracts and grants that Harvard is slated to receive from the federal government over the school's alleged 'failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination.'
April 11: The administration sends Harvard a letter containing a wide-ranging slate of demands, including calling for the school to reform its admissions and hiring policies, end its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices, and grant the government extensive new authority over university operations and education.
April 14: Harvard announces that it is refusing to comply with those demands, insisting that it would not 'surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.' The administration responds by revoking $2.2 billion in federal research grants.
April 16: DHS launches an investigation into Harvard's international student enrollment, threatens to revoke its ability to host them and demands that the university share comprehensive internal information about each foreign student with the administration.
April 17: The Department of Education announces an investigation into donations Harvard has received from foreign sources, accusing the university of failing to accurately disclose the money it gets from overseas.
April 19: The Department of Health and Human Services announces a comprehensive civil rights investigation into all activities on Harvard's campus since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in order to determine whether the school is violating federal antidiscrimination laws.
April 20: The administration reportedly moves to revoke an additional $1 billion in health research funding for Harvard and its research partners.
April 21: Harvard sues to block the funding freeze. The lawsuit condemns the 'broad attack' on the university and argues that the administration broke the law by violating the school's 'academic independence.'
April 25: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announces an investigation into Harvard's hiring practices, accusing the school of discriminating against 'white, Asian, male, or straight employees, applicants, and training program participants.'
April 28: The Education Department and HHS announce a joint investigation into allegations of 'race-based discrimination' in the operations of the Harvard Law Review.
May 2: Trump says that he is revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status. It's unclear whether this will actually happen, however, because federal law explicitly bars presidents from directing the Internal Revenue Service to review or change any taxpayer's or institution's tax status.
May 5: The Education Department declares that Harvard is disqualified from receiving any federal grant funding in the future.
May 12: Harvard releases a letter in which it acknowledges 'common ground' it shares with the administration and expresses hope that its 'partnership' with the government can be restored. That same day, the Justice Department launches an investigation into whether Harvard's admissions practices violate antidiscrimination laws.
May 13: The administration's joint task force revokes an additional $450 million in grant funding over claims that Harvard has 'repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus.'
May 19: Another $60 million in medical research grant funding is canceled by HHS.
May 22: DHS announces that Harvard can no longer host international students.
May 23: Harvard sues to block the order. A federal judge temporarily rules in Harvard's favor, preventing the order from going into effect for at least two weeks to allow a more thorough legal challenge to get underway.
May 27: The Trump administration orders all federal agencies to end any remaining contracts — totaling an estimated $100 million — they have with Harvard.
May 29: The Trump administration issues a letter pausing its revocation of Harvard's ability to host international students for 30 days. A federal judge extends the deadline on the previous order that temporarily blocks the policy from going into effect.
June 23: A federal judge issues an order indefinitely blocking the administration from revoking Harvard's right to host international students.
June 27: Harvard reaches an agreement with the University of Toronto that will allow certain Harvard graduate students to attend the Canadian university if the administration succeeds in preventing them from attending college in the United States.
June 30: The administration's antisemitism task force formally accuses Harvard of violating civil rights law and threatens to revoke all federal funding over the school's purported failure to protect Jewish students on campus. A letter from the task force accuses the university of being 'deliberately indifferent' to antisemitism in some cases and a 'willful participant' in attacks on Jewish people.