Harvard Is Wise To Not Consider $500 Million Settlement With Trump
Last week, The New York Times reported that Harvard University was open to a $500 million settlement with the Trump administration to put an end to an ongoing feud over allegations of antisemitism on campus. But Harvard faculty familiar with the matter have refuted the claim—one believed to have been leaked by White House officials—and told The Harvard Crimson that the university’s president, Alan Garber, is seriously considering a court resolution rather than striking a deal.Â
The news of a possible Harvard settlement came just five days after news broke of Columbia University’s $200 million settlement with the Trump administration. As part of the announcement of Columbia’s settlement, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the deal would serve as a “roadmap for elite universities,” insinuating that ongoing negotiations—such as with Harvard—could meet a similar fate.
The feud between Harvard and the Trump administration was sparked in April after Harvard refused to comply with a list of sweeping demands to change governance, discipline, hiring, and admissions policies in the name of combating antisemitism on campus. For its defiance, President Donald Trump retaliated by freezing $2.6 billion in federal research grants to the university. Harvard filed suit, arguing that the funding freeze violated constitutional free speech protections. Since then, the Trump administration has deployed different tactics—including attempting to revoke the university’s ability to enroll international students, investigating and subpoenaing information on its international students, and attacking its accreditation for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act—to escalate the standoff and move the school closer to striking a deal.Â
Trump has publicly stated that he believes Harvard will come to a deal with his administration. According to the Times, sources said that “Trump has privately demanded that Harvard pay far more than Columbia” and that he “told aides that he will not gr
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