Trump vs. Harvard: A timeline of how the fight escalated
Story by Justine McDaniel, Susan Svrluga • 14h • 10 min read
The Trump administration’s battle with Harvard University will be aired in court Monday, when a federal judge will hear arguments in the school’s lawsuit challenging the government’s attack on its federal research funding.
At stake is more than $2 billion, nearly a thousand grants funding ambitious scientific research and the overarching question of how much control the federal government can exert over a private university.
Lawyers for Harvard are expected to argue that the government’s actions to freeze and cut funding are unconstitutional and unlawful. They say the administration has violated legal procedures in an attempt to force the nation’s oldest university to submit to the president’s political agenda. Lawyers for the Trump administration are expected to argue that Harvard has failed to address antisemitism on its campus and that its alleged actions make it ineligible for federal funding.
The university has made numerous changes on campus to address antisemitism, but the administration contends it is not enough.
Here are some of the key events in the administration’s campaign against Harvard:
2024
Trump campaign platform says he will make ‘college campuses safe and patriotic again’
The Republican Party’s formal campaign platform pledges to make colleges and universities “sane” and promises to pursue civil rights cases against them. President Donald Trump also includes concerns about alleged antisemitism in his campaign platform in response to pro-Palestinian campus protests over the Israel-Gaza war.
Jan. 9, 2025
Justice Department pick signals focus on Harvard
Attorney Leo Terrell is tapped by Trump to join the Justice Department and will soon become chair of its Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.
In October, Terrell posted on X in response to a report that Harvard had lost donor money following pro-Palestinian campus protests: “Harvard will lose much more effective January 2025. America will no longer fund Jew Hating Schools!”
Feb. 3
Trump administration alleges antisemitic incidents at university graduations
The Health and Human Services Department’s Office for Civil Rights announced an investigation into four medical schools, including Harvard’s, after some graduates wore pro-Palestinian symbols during commencement ceremonies.
Trump administration announces formation of its antisemitism task force
March 8
Trump task force chair says universities have been ‘hijacked’ by leftists
We’re going to bankrupt these universities. We’re going to take away every single federal dollar. That is why we are targeting these universities.
March 10
Trump administration investigates 60 schools for alleged antisemitism
Harvard is one of the universities that receives a letter from the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights warning it to “protect Jewish students” or face potential government punishment.
March 31
More than $8.7 billion in funding to Harvard is put under review
The Trump administration's antisemitism task force says it will review billions in federal grants and contracts to Harvard University and its affiliates, which include hospitals.
April 11
Faculty union sues Trump administration
The government has unlawfully used federal funding and civil rights enforcement authority to undermine Harvard’s academic freedom and free speech on campus, the Harvard faculty chapter of the American Association of University Professors alleges in a lawsuit filed in federal court.
Harvard faculty have the constitutional right to speak, teach, and conduct research without fearing that the government will retaliate against their viewpoints by canceling grants.
April 11
In unprecedented step, U.S. government orders Harvard to make sweeping changes
The Trump administration sends a letter to Harvard accusing the school of allowing rampant antisemitism. The government demands that the university restructure its student discipline policies; shed diversity, equity and inclusion practices; change its governance, hiring and admissions practices; and yield to extensive government oversight to keep its federal funding. Its requests include allowing a government-approved auditor to investigate Harvard’s student body, faculty, staff and leadership for “viewpoint diversity.”
April 14
Harvard rejects Trump administration’s demands
The government’s demands exceed the government’s authority and violate Harvard’s First Amendment rights, Harvard University President Alan M. Garber says in a letter to the campus community.
Harvard receives support from students, alumni and colleges nationwide.
"The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights".
April 14
The Trump administration says it will freeze $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard
The administration responds with a major hit to scientific and medical research at Harvard.
April 16
Trump administration asks IRS to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status
The Treasury Department asks the Internal Revenue Service’s top attorney to revoke Harvard’s status, The Washington Post reports.
On Truth Social, the president writes that Harvard “is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.” Trump baselessly claims Harvard hires “almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’ who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called ‘future leaders.’”
April 16
Government cancels $2.7 million for Harvard
Two Department of Homeland Security grants are revoked from Harvard, DHS Secretary Kristi L. Noem says in a harshly worded statement.
With anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology poisoning its campus and classrooms, Harvard’s position as a top institution of higher learning is a distant memory.
Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security.
April 16
Government threatens Harvard’s ability to enroll international students
DHS makes a new threat: to revoke Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification unless the university provides information about alleged illegal or violent activities by international students by April 30.
April 17
Trump administration opens investigation targeting foreign ties
Education Secretary Linda McMahon accuses Harvard of providing incomplete information about foreign gifts and contracts. Her department orders Harvard to provide extensive information about foreign funds and international students and raises an additional alleged concern over whether Harvard is being manipulated by foreign entities.
A spokesman for Harvard says the university for decades has provided reports about gifts and contracts from foreign sources exceeding $250,000 annually.
April 21
Harvard sues the Trump administration over funding freeze
The university asks a federal court to stop the Trump administration from withholding federal funding. Harvard alleges that the government overstepped its authority, failed to follow legal regulations and procedures before taking punitive action, and unlawfully attempted to “coerce and control” Harvard in violation of the First Amendment.
The university also says the government cannot “identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns” and the research funding grants it has frozen.
Garber says complying with the administration’s demands would give the government “unprecedented and improper” control over the university.
April 21
Funding loss will cause a severe impact to scientific research, Harvard says
Freezing billions in federal funding dramatically threatens medical and other research, jeopardizes the livelihoods of faculty and students and threatens America’s position as a global leader, Harvard contends in its suit.
Work on treating cancer, preventing dementia, mitigating military battlefield trauma and other goals key to human health is put at risk, Harvard’s lawyers argue.
April 25
Trump administration opens investigation targeting hiring practices
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission opens a new inquiry against the university that it says will determine whether Harvard has violated civil rights law in hiring. The government cites a fellowship program that encouraged students of color to apply and an internship program for underrepresented minority students, the type of diversity programs the Trump administration has framed as discriminatory.
April 28
Trump administration opens investigation into Harvard Law Review
The government alleges that the prominent law journal considered race in article selection, and opens civil rights investigations into both the university and the independent student-run journal. The Harvard Law Review denies the allegations.
The government’s source for the reports, a student who had been an editor at the law review, is given a job in the White House.
May 5
Federal government will no longer provide funding to Harvard, education secretary says
In a scathing letter, McMahon escalates the administration’s allegations against Harvard, accusing the university without detailed evidence of engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law and failing to provide “any semblance of academic rigor.”
May 13
Government terminates $450 million in grants
The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announces an additional funding cut to Harvard as punishment for its alleged failure to address the Trump administration’s accusations of antisemitism on campus.
May 19
Trump administration cuts an additional $60 million in grants
May 22
Government revokes Harvard’s ability to admit international students
Following through on its threat, the DHS moves to ban Harvard from enrolling foreign students by terminating its SEVP certification. Noem cites Harvard’s “refusal to comply” with the government’s requests for information on its foreign students and gives the school 72 hours to provide it.
Noem says all international students currently at Harvard — more than a quarter of the school’s enrollment — must transfer or lose their legal status in the United States.
May 23
Harvard sues the Trump administration over ban on international students
The university asks a federal judge to intervene, alleging that the revocation of its SEVP certification violates the First Amendment and other regulations and constitutes more retaliation by the government for Harvard’s refusal of its demands “to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students.” Harvard’s lawyers say the government’s move would have far-reaching effects on the lives of thousands of students.
May 23
Federal judge temporarily blocks the administration
The government is barred from revoking Harvard’s certification to enroll international students while the court challenge to it unfolds, U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs orders.
May 26
Trump suggests revoking $3 billion more from Harvard
Trump, a day after repeating the government’s demand for the “names and countries” of Harvard’s international students, says he is considering taking $3 billion in grant funding from Harvard to give to trade schools.
"We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country. Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!"
May 27
Government threatens more federal contracts with Harvard
Citing a litany of complaints, including allegations of racial discrimination in Harvard’s admissions process and hiring practices, the General Service Administration directs all federal agencies to review their contracts with Harvard. The agency cited what it said were admissions statistics for a certain subset of applicants that showed lower admission rates for White and Asian students.
May 29
Harvard University commencement speaker urges ‘shared humanity’
May 30
State department singles out Harvard student visas for extra vetting
With its attempt to ban international students blocked by the court, the administration instead directs U.S. embassies and consulates to complete additional vetting for people requesting visas to travel to Harvard, including screening their social media accounts. A State Department memo says the policy applies not just to students but to faculty, workers, guest speakers and tourists.
June 4
Trump attempts to suspend entry of international students to Harvard
Trump issues a proclamation declaring that Harvard’s refusal to respond to DHS’s request for information on foreign students creates a national security concern that necessitates barring international students and scholars from entering the country to study, conduct research or teach at the school.
Presidential proclamations typically do not have the force of law.
Harvard says the proclamation “is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights.”
June 5
Court blocks Trump from targeting Harvard student visas
The State Department directs consulates to reject visa applications from people planning to attend Harvard. The university asks a federal judge to block the government’s action, and the court grants the university’s request late that evening.
June 6
State Department reverses course
Following the court ruling, the State Department tells consulates to resume processing visa applications for students seeking to attend Harvard.
June 10
House Republicans say they’re investigating Harvard’s hiring practices
Citing the administration’s concerns about Harvard allegedly discriminating by considering race in hiring, the House Committee on Education and Workforce tells Garber in a letter it has opened an inquiry.
June 24
White House tries to negotiate with Harvard as court dates approach
A month before the parties are set to go to court, Trump administration officials indicate the government is hoping to make a deal with Harvard. A few days earlier, Trump claimed on Truth Social that a “‘mindbogglingly’ HISTORIC” deal could be announced within a week, which does not occur.
June 30
Trump administration completes first investigation into Harvard
The administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism notifies Harvard that the government finds it in “violent violation” of federal civil rights law for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students on campus.
Harvard’s lawyers say in a new court filing that the government has not documented any meaningful investigation into antisemitism at the university.
July 9
Trump administration reports Harvard to its accreditor
The Education and Health and Human Services departments notified Harvard University’s accreditor that the school allegedly violated federal civil rights laws and may fail to meet the commission’s standards for accreditation, the agencies announced Wednesday.
Jason Newton, a spokesman for Harvard, says the school strongly disagrees with the government’s findings.
"The administration’s ongoing retaliatory actions come as Harvard continues to defend itself and its students, faculty and staff against harmful government overreach aimed at dictating whom private universities can admit and hire, and what they can teach."
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