Harvard University must follow a specific plan for ending the harassment of Jewish students or forfeit billions in federal funding, the Department of Education told school leaders on April 3.
A department letter to the university, obtained by The Epoch Times, outlines similar conditions that Columbia University adhered to last month after the federal agency removed $400 million in funding for past failures to address anti-Semitic events.
“We look forward to a meaningful dialogue focused on lasting, structural reforms at Harvard,” reads the letter, which officials with the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration signed.
According to the letter, Harvard is required to provide oversight, accountability, and reforms for biased programs that fuel anti-Semitism to “improve viewpoint diversity and end ideological capture.”
The university must also implement a series of student reforms—including campus mask bans, ensuring that a senior administrator is responsible for student disciplinary measures, and publishing a report on all rule violations related to anti-Semitism since Oct. 7, 2023.
Additionally, an organizational plan is required to track administrators and faculty leaders responsible for implementing these changes.
Harvard must end all DEI programs and racial preferences in hiring and student admissions.
The letter also states that the university would be required to cooperate with law enforcement and all federal regulators, including the Department of Homeland Security.
“We expect your immediate cooperation in implementing these critical reforms that will enable Harvard to return to its original mission of providing a high-quality education in a safe environment for all students through a focus on truth-seeking, innovative research, and academic excellence,” the letter states.
It said that immediate cooperation is expected, and no deadline date was noted.
In an email response to The Epoch Times, Harvard University acknowledged receiving the letter and said it had not received previous indications that conditions would be set.
It has been a busy week for Ivy League presidents.
On March 31, the Trump administration announced it was examining $8.7 billion in contracts with Harvard.
Alan Garber, the university’s president, immediately sent a letter to students and employees stating that he was cooperating with the federal government’s anti-Semitism task force.
“By doing so, we combat bias and intolerance as we create the conditions that foster the excellence in teaching and research that is at the core of our mission,” Garber wrote.
The following day, federal agencies informed Princeton University that dozens of federal research grants were suspended due to campus anti-Semitism.
On April 3, a White House official confirmed that the Trump administration was planning to halt $510 million in grants and contracts to Brown University because that school also failed to address the harassment of Jewish students.
The anti-Semitism task force previously put 60 colleges and universities on notice of its investigation.
Legal challenges are expected.
After Columbia University announced that it was complying with all conditions to remain eligible for federal funding, the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers unions filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the Trump administration’s action and restore all federal funding to the institution.
