Harvard attracts new donors as funding fight with Trump administration intensifies
'They took a stand, and I wanted to support that in a stronger way than I would ever do,' Taylor, 42, said. 'I loved what the president of Harvard [said], how they explained what they were standing for. And I thought, 'Oh, thank goodness. Maybe this will build a movement.''
She isn't alone. In the days since the Trump administration put a hold on Harvard's funding and said it would seek to revoke the school's tax-exempt status – stakes that were further raised Monday when Harvard
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In recent days, officials updated Harvard's website to focus on the school's research initiatives, whose benefits extend well beyond the student body. Suzanne Hilser-Wiles, a managing director at Huron Consulting Group who helps institutions of higher education with fundraising, said it is critical for universities like Harvard to stress their broader impacts – particularly for the wealthiest donors, who can move 'the needle more quickly.'
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The smaller gifts given as a form of public protest have a different value.
'Having a really engaged constituency and having them be part of the support and the messaging … that's incredibly impactful,' Hilser-Wiles said.
Many Harvard alumni have felt moved to give to their alma mater for the first time.
'I always thought, 'Oh, Harvard has so much money, they don't need me to give them money,'' said Linda Haverty Rugg, who earned a PhD in comparative literature from the school in 1989 and went on to spend five years as associate vice chancellor for research at the University of California at Berkeley.
Rugg was one of few people from her Nebraska hometown to leave the Midwest for school. Thanks to Harvard's endowment, which paid for fellowships and teaching opportunities, she graduated debt-free. Eight of her relatives and her junior-high science teacher flew to Boston for the graduation ceremony. It bothers her when Harvard is characterized as elitist because she knows many graduates with stories like hers.
Rugg views the $100 donation she made last week as a symbolic gesture, but hopes it will inspire others to do the same.
'You want to send a message to Harvard: 'Don't give up,'' she said. ''The people that you sent out into the world, we are here, you know, and we are ready to come and try to help you.'
Below a Facebook post about her donation, a handful of Rugg's acquaintances – alumni and not – said they would also donate to Harvard for the first time. Roberto Diaz, who received his PhD in Spanish from the school in 1991, told the Globe he earmarked his $100 for two purposes: a Harvard research center near Florence where he and his late husband, also a Harvard graduate, visited while on vacation, and a bucket titled 'Presidential Priorities.'
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Diaz said he has been impressed with the two lawyers retained by Harvard President Alan Garber. 'So if they want to take my little money and give it to the lawyers, I would be happy,' he said.
Another new donor, a federal contractor whose business has been hurt by the Trump administration's cuts, said the president's interest in Harvard's academic policies is 'ironic' considering his work to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
'He did away with that, but now he wants to dictate how education is run in the country,' said the worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to his position. 'I honestly am totally against that.'
While Harvard's fundraising surged in 2021 and 2022, it has dipped since, and the federal funding freeze marks the latest in a string of financial hits. According to Harvard's 2024 financial report, total gifts have decreased by nearly a quarter-billion dollars since 2022, with a 15% drop from 2023 to 2024.
In early 2024, hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, a Harvard grad who's donated more than $500 million dollars to the school, said he was pausing his support amid concerns over Harvard's handling of antisemitism on campus.
Griffin declined to comment when asked by the Globe if his position has changed in light of the federal funding freeze.
The Wall Street Journal reported that university officials have been connecting with other major donors in recent days, including businessman and politician Michael Bloomberg, investor David Rubenstein and hedge fund manager John Paulson. The three all declined to comment to the Globe.
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Della Heiman, a Miami-based Jewish entrepreneur who graduated from Harvard Business School in 2014, said she admired the university's fortitude as they resisted Trump's demands, which the president attributed to the school's mishandling of antisemitism during protests and in classrooms. The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, Heiman has been critical of the university's response to antisemitism, but she said she believes the institution has made meaningful strides in protecting Jewish students.
She views the Trump administration's financial pressure as a power grab that has 'nothing to do with the welfare of the Jewish people' and threatens the independence of a place where students can debate without feeling unsafe.
'My hope is that what comes out of this for all universities is being able to foster nuanced conversation, tolerance, openness, and curiosity, because I fear that we are losing all those concepts with this society, and it's quite terrifying,' she said
The Trump administration's tactics are being felt far beyond Boston.
Laura McGarry, managing principal at Graham-Pelton, a nonprofit consulting firm, said higher education clients whose funding has yet to be impacted are seeking guidance on how to engage with donors. Her main advice: stay the course and keep your mission at the forefront.
Engaging with donors, even those giving small amounts, can build a more robust base for the future.
'We've captured the attention and the inspiration of these people,' she said. 'How do you grow that and sustain that?'
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Harvard seeks billions in funding restored at a pivotal hearing in its standoff with Trump
BOSTON (AP) — Harvard University appeared in federal court Monday in a pivotal case in its battle with the Trump administration, as the storied institution argued the government illegally cut $2.6 billion in federal funding. President Trump's administration has battered the nation's oldest and wealthiest university with sanctions for months as it presses a series of demands on the Ivy League school, which it decries as a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism. Harvard has resisted, and the lawsuit over the cuts to its research grants represents the primary challenge to the administration in a standoff that is being widely watched across higher education and beyond. A lawyer for Harvard, Steven Lehotsky, said at Monday's hearing the case is about the government trying to control the 'inner workings' of Harvard. The funding cuts, if not reversed, could lead to the loss of research, damaged careers and the closing of labs, he said. The case is before U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, who is presiding over lawsuits brought by Harvard against the administration's efforts to keep it from hosting international students. In that case, she temporarily blocked the administration's efforts. At Monday's hearing Harvard is asking her to reverse a series of funding freezes. Such a ruling, if it stands, would revive Harvard's sprawling scientific and medical research operation and hundreds of projects that lost federal money. A lawyer for the government, Michael Velchik, said the government has authority to cancel research grants when an institution is out of compliance with the president's directives. He said episodes at Harvard violated Trump's order combating antisemitism. Judge questions basis for government's findings on antisemitism Burroughs pushed back, questioning how the government could make 'ad-hoc' decisions to cancel grants and do so across Harvard without offering evidence that any of the research is antisemitic. She also argued the government had provided 'no documentation, no procedure' to 'suss out' whether Harvard administrators 'have taken enough steps or haven't' to combat antisemitism. 'The consequences of that in terms of constitutional law are staggering,' she said during Monday's hearing. "I don't think you can justify a contract action based on impermissible suppression of speech. Where do I have that wrong.' Velchik said the case comes down to the government's choosing how best to spend billions of dollars in research funding. 'Harvard claims the government is anti-Harvard. I reject that,' Velchik said. 'The government is pro-Jewish students at Harvard. The government is pro-Jewish faculty at Harvard.' Harvard's lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of waging a retaliation campaign against the university after it rejected a series of demands in an April 11 letter from a federal antisemitism task force. A second lawsuit over the cuts filed by the American Association of University Professors and its Harvard faculty chapter has been consolidated with the university's. The April letter demanded sweeping changes related to campus protests, academics and admissions. For example, the letter told Harvard to audit the viewpoints of students and faculty and admit more students or hire new professors if the campus was found to lack diverse points of view. Harvard President Alan Garber has said the university has made changes to combat antisemitism but said no government 'should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.' Monday's hearing ended without Burroughs issuing a ruling from the bench. A ruling is expected later in writing. Trump's pressure campaign has involved a series of sanctions The same day Harvard rejected the government's demands, Trump officials moved to freeze $2.2 billion in research grants. Education Secretary Linda McMahon declared in May that Harvard would no longer be eligible for new grants, and weeks later the administration began canceling contracts with Harvard. As Harvard fought the funding freeze in court, individual agencies began sending letters announcing the frozen research grants were being terminated. They cited a clause that allows grants to be scrapped if they no longer align with government policies. Harvard, which has the nation's largest endowment at $53 billion, has moved to self-fund some of its research, but warned it can't absorb the full cost of the federal cuts. In court filings, the school said the government 'fails to explain how the termination of funding for research to treat cancer, support veterans, and improve national security addresses antisemitism.' The Trump administration denies the cuts were made in retaliation, saying the grants were under review even before the April demand letter was sent. It argues the government has wide discretion to cancel contracts for policy reasons. The research funding is only one front in Harvard's fight with the federal government. The Trump administration also has sought to prevent the school from hosting foreign students, and Trump has threatened to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status. Finally, last month, the Trump administration formally issued a finding that the school tolerated antisemitism — a step that eventually could jeopardize all of Harvard's federal funding, including federal student loans or grants. The penalty is typically referred to as a 'death sentence.'
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Is August recess at risk?
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But remember, August recess is the time for Republicans to tout the 'big, beautiful bill' to constituents and claim victory. What is hanging over Congress's sprint to recess: The Jeffrey Epstein saga. The Hill's Mychael Schnell reports that the controversy surrounding the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case is poised to dominate the conversation on Capitol Hill this week. On one hand, MAGA World wants the files to be released. But on the other hand, President Trump wants the saga to be dropped. There could be a vote this week on a resolution to call for the release of the Epstein files, though that resolution would be nonbinding. What else is happening on Capitol Hill this week, via Schnell. ➤ FUN TIDBIT: One year ago today, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer was enjoying a 'Wolf Spritzer' cocktail in D.C. when the news broke that then- President Biden would drop out of the presidential race. 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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
As Trump's raids ramp up, a Texas region's residents stay inside — even when they need medical care
WESLACO, Texas — These days, Juanita says a prayer every time she steps off the driveway of her modest rural home. The 41-year-old mother, who crossed into the United States from Mexico more than two decades ago and married an American carpenter, fears federal agents may be on the hunt for her. As she was about to leave for the pharmacy late last month, her husband called with a frantic warning: Immigration enforcement officers were swarming the store's parking lot. Juanita, who is prediabetic, skipped filling medications that treat her nutrient deficiencies. She also couldn't risk being detained because she has to care for her 17-year-old daughter, who has Down syndrome. 'If I am caught, who's going to help my daughter?' Juanita asks in Spanish, through an interpreter. Some people quoted in this story insisted that the Associated Press publish only their first names because of concerns over their immigration status. As the Trump administration intensifies deportation activity around the country, some immigrants — including many who have lived in Texas's southern tip for decades — are unwilling to leave their homes, even for necessary medical care. Tucked behind the freeway strip malls, roadside taquerias and vast citrus groves that span this 160-mile stretch of the Rio Grande Valley are people like Juanita, who need critical medical care in one of the nation's poorest and unhealthiest regions. For generations, Mexican families have harmoniously settled — some legally, some not — in this predominately Latino community where immigration status was once hardly top of mind. White House officials have directed federal agents to leave no location unchecked, including hospitals and churches, in their drive to remove 1 million immigrants by year's end. Those agents are even combing through the federal government's largest medical record databases to search for immigrants who may be in the United States illegally. Deportations and tougher restrictions will come with consequences, says Mark Krikorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that favors restrictive immigration policies. 'We shouldn't have let it get out of hand the way we did,' Krikorian says of the previous administration's immigration policies. 'Some businesses are going to have difficulties. Some communities are going to face difficulties.' Federal agents' raids began reaching deeper into everyday life across the Rio Grande Valley in June, just as the area's 1.4 million residents began their summer ritual of enduring the suffocating heat. This working-class stretch of Texas solidly backed Trump in the 2024 election, despite campaign promises to ruthlessly pursue mass deportations. People here, who once moved regularly from the U.S. to Mexico to visit relatives or get cheap dental care, say they didn't realize his deportation campaign would focus on their neighbors. But in recent weeks, restaurant workers have been escorted out mid-shift and farmers have suddenly lost field workers. Schoolchildren talk openly about friends who lost a parent in raids. More than a dozen were arrested last month at local flea markets, according to local news reports and Border Patrol officials. Immigrants are staying shut inside their mobiles homes and shacks that make up the 'colonias,' zoning-free neighborhoods that sometimes don't have access to running water or electricity, says Sandra de la Cruz-Yarrison, who runs the Holy Family Services, Inc. clinic in Weslaco, Texas. 'People are not going to risk it,' de la Cruz-Yarrison says. 'People are being stripped from their families.' Yet people here are among the most medically needy in the country. Nearly half the population is obese. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer and elderly people are more likely to develop dementia. Bladder cancers can be more aggressive. One out of every four people lives with diabetes. As much as a third of the population doesn't have health insurance to cover those ailments. And a quarter of people live in poverty, more than double the national average. Now, many in this region are on a path to develop worse health outcomes as they skip doctor appointments out of fear, says Dr. Stanley Fisch, a pediatrician who helped open Driscoll Children's Hospital in the region last year. 'We've always had, unfortunately, people who have gone with untreated diabetes for a long time and now it's compounded with these other issues at the moment,' Fisch says. 'This is a very dangerous situation for people. The population is suffering accordingly.' Elvia was the unlucky — and unsuspecting — patient who sat down for the finger prick the clinic offers everyone during its monthly educational meeting for community members. As blood oozed out of her finger, the monitor registered a 194 glucose level, indicating she is prediabetic. She balked at the idea of writing down her address for regular care at Holy Family Services' clinic. Nor did she want to enroll in Medicaid, the federal and state funded program that provides health care coverage to the poorest Americans. Although she is a legal resident, some people living in her house do not have legal status. Fewer people have come to Holy Family Services' clinic with coverage in recent months, says billing coordinator Elizabeth Reta. Over decades, the clinic's midwifery staff has helped birth thousands of babies in bathtubs or on cozy beds in birthing houses situated throughout the campus. But now, Reta says, some parents are too scared to sign those children up for health insurance because they do not want to share too much information with the government. 'Even people I personally know that used to have Medicaid for their children that were born here — that are legally here, but the parents are not — they stopped requesting Medicaid,' Reta says. Their worry is well-founded. An Associated Press investigation last week revealed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have gained access to personal health data — including addresses — of the nation's 79 million Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program enrollees. The disclosure will allow ICE officials to receive 'identity and location information of aliens,' documents obtained by the AP say. In Texas, the governor started requiring emergency room staff to ask patients about their legal status, a move that doctors have argued will dissuade immigrants from seeking needed care. State officials have said the data will show how much money is spent on care for immigrants who may not be here legally. Federal law requires emergency rooms to treat any patients who come to the doors. Visits to Holy Family Services' mobile clinic have stopped altogether since Trump took office. The van, which once offered checkups at the doorsteps in the colonias, now sits running on idle. Its constant hum is heard throughout the clinic's campus, to keep medical supplies fresh in the 100-degree temperatures. 'These were hard-hit communities that really needed the services,' de la Cruz-Yarrison says. 'People were just not coming after the administration changed.' Immigrants were less likely to seek medical care during Trump's first term, multiple studies concluded. A 2023 study of well-child visits in Boston, Minneapolis and Little Rock, Arkansas, noted a 5% drop for children who were born to immigrant mothers after Trump was elected in 2016. The study also noted declines in visits when news about Trump's plans to tighten immigration rules broke throughout his first term. 'It's a really high-anxiety environment where they're afraid to talk to the pediatrician, go to school or bring their kids to child care,' says Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, a Boston University researcher who oversaw the study. A delayed trip to the doctor almost cost 82-year-old Maria Isabel de Perez her son this spring. He refused to seek help for his intense and constant stomach pains for weeks, instead popping Tylenol daily so he could still labor in the farm fields of Arkansas, she says. He put off going to the hospital as rumors swirled that immigration enforcement officials were outside of the hospital. 'He waited and waited because he felt the pain but was too scared to go to the hospital,' she explains in Spanish through an interpreter. 'He couldn't go until the appendix exploded.' Her son is still recovering after surgery and has not been able to return to work, she says. Perez is a permanent resident who has lived in the United States for 40 years. But all of her children were born in Mexico, and, because she is a green card holder, she cannot sponsor them for citizenship. Maria, meanwhile, only leaves her house to volunteer at a local food bank. She's skipped work on nearby farms. And after last month's arrests, she won't sell clothes for money at the flea market anymore. So she stuffs cardboard boxes with loaves of bread, potatoes, peppers and beans that will be handed out to the hungry. Before the raids began, about 130 people would drive up to collect a box of food from Maria. But on this sweltering June day, only 68 people show up for food. She brings home a box weekly to her children, ages 16, 11 and 4, who are spending the summer shut inside. Her 16-year-old daughter has skipped the checkup she needs to refill her depression medication. The teenager, who checks in on friends whose parents have been arrested in immigration raids through a text group chat, insists she is 'doing OK.' Maria left Mexico years ago because dangerous gangs rule her hometown, she explains. She's married now to an American truck driver. 'We're not bad people,' Maria says from her dining room table, where her 4-year-old son happily eats a lime green popsicle. 'We just want to have a better future for our children.' Juanita, the prediabetic mother who hasn't filled her prescriptions out of fear, was not sure when she would brave the pharmacy again. But with a cross hanging around her neck, the devout Catholic says she will say three invocations before she does. Explains her 15-year-old son, Jose: 'We always pray before we leave.' Seitz and Martin write for the Associated Press.
