Former President Barack Obama criticized the Trump administration’s “unlawful and ham-handed” demands for policy changes at Harvard University.
The Ivy League school announced Monday that it would not comply with the government’s requirements, prompting the administration to freeze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants to the school.
Obama, a Harvard Law graduate, praised the university for setting “an example for other higher-ed institutions” by refusing to cave.
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Obama said Harvard had defied “an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect.”
“Let’s hope other institutions follow suit,” the former president added.
Obama has rarely spoken out publicly against Trump and his policies since the beginning of his second term. Earlier this month, he expressed dismay at the lack of outrage from certain quarters, saying: “Imagine if I had done any of this.”
“It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me, or a whole bunch of my predecessors,” Obama said.
The Trump administration’s demands to Harvard follows similar pressure on other colleges. After a weeks-long standoff last month, Columbia University submitted to the Trump administration’s demands that included overhauling policies concerning protests and the school’s security practices.
The moves saved the New York City institution $400 million in funding that Trump officials threatened to cut.
Harvard faced similar demands from the White House to eliminate diversity initiatives, prohibit mask-wearing, and pledge “full cooperation” with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of an ongoing investigation by Trump’s antisemitism task force.
Harvard was also ordered to revoke recognition of pro-Palestine student organizations, review its academic programs for ideological diversity, and expel students who were involved in a 2024 pro-Palestine protest-related altercation on the Harvard Business School campus.
Alan Garber, the president of Harvard, announced on Monday that the university would not allow the federal government to regulate what happens on campus.
“No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” he wrote in a statement published on the Harvard University website.
He added that the demands made clear “that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner.”
“Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” Garber added.
