The White House had sent the university a set of demands it said were aimed at curbing campus antisemitism only to backtrack later
A letter outlining sweeping demands on university admissions, hiring, and school curriculums, which the White House claims targeted antisemitism, was sent to Harvard University by mistake, the New York Times has cited senior US officials as saying.
The White House had emailed the Ivy League university an “updated and expanded list of demands” last Friday, following a wave of pro-Palestinian protests across US campuses. The message warned Harvard that it “must comply” in order to maintain government financial support. The proposals called for changes to be made to governance, hiring, and admissions, including the elimination of all DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs.
Harvard rejected the demands, accusing the White House of trying to “control” its campus. In response, US President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would freeze over $2.2 billion in federal grants and $60 million in government contracts with the university.
A little later on, however, an official from the Trump administration contacted Harvard, claiming that the letter was “unauthorized,” according to two people familiar with the matter.
The letter had reportedly been seen by Sean Keveney, acting general counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services and a member of the antisemitism task force, according to three other sources briefed on the incident.
Though the letter’s content was genuine, there were conflicting accounts within the administration about how it had been mishandled, an unnamed official told the newspaper. Some reportedly believed it was sent prematurely; others said it was meant for internal circulation only.
May Mailman, a senior policy strategist at the White House, acknowledged the controversy when speaking to the New York Times, but criticized Harvard for not verifying the letter.
Harvard rejected that criticism, saying the letter bore official federal signatures and appeared legitimate. “It remains unclear to us exactly what, among the government’s recent words and deeds, were mistakes or what the government actually meant to do and say. But even if the letter was a mistake, the actions the government took this week have real-life consequences” for students and employees as well as “the standing of American higher education in the world,” it said in a statement to the Times.
In October 2023, Israel declared war on Hamas, the militant organization which controls Gaza, after the Palestinian group launched a surprise attack against the Jewish state which claimed over 1,200 lives. The brutality of the large-scale offensive, which has left over 50,000 dead according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, has sparked university campus protests in the US, which has been providing West Jerusalem with weapons.
Columbia, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Yale, Michigan, and Northwestern became key protest sites last year, forming the backdrop for heightened tensions that have influenced the administration’s push for stricter campus oversight. Last month, the task force also cut $400 million in funding to Columbia and warned of further cuts.
