“Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus,” the statement said.
“Jewish students were subjected to pervasive insults, physical assault, and intimidation, with no meaningful response from Harvard’s leadership.”
In one incident, a protester who faced criminal charges for allegedly assaulting a Jewish student on campus was granted a $65,000 fellowship by the Harvard Law Review, an influential student-run journal, the task force said, adding that the fellowship was meant to “serve the public interest.”
“The decision was reviewed and approved by a faculty committee, demonstrating just how radical Harvard has become,” it said.
“Harvard’s campus, once a symbol of academic prestige, has become a breeding ground for virtue signaling and discrimination.”
By “prioritizing appeasement over accountability, institutional leaders have forfeited the school’s claim to taxpayer support,” the task force said.
As such, the agencies have decided to terminate $450 million in grants.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Harvard for comment on the latest cut in grant money.
The Trump administration had proposed a series of “common sense” reforms such as ensuring merit-based admissions and hiring, ending programs promoting “crude identity stereotypes,” disciplinary reforms, cooperation with law enforcement, and reporting compliance with federal agencies such as the Education Department and the Department of Homeland Security, McMahon said.
“The Administration’s priorities have not changed and today’s letter marks the end of new grants for the University,” the May 5 letter said.
‘Harvard Will Not Surrender’
In his May 12 letter, Garber accused the Trump administration of “overreach into the constitutional freedoms of private universities“ and ”continuing disregard of Harvard’s compliance with the law.”“Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government,” he said.
Garber said he refutes the claim that Harvard is a partisan institution, saying the university “is neither Republican nor Democratic” and that it is not an arm of any political party or movement.
Admission to Harvard is based on “academic excellence and promise,” he said, adding that employment at the university is “similarly based on merit and achievement.”
Garber dismissed accusations that international students may be “collectively more prone” to violence, disruption, and other misconduct compared to other students.
Furthermore, the institution has taken steps to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, Garber said.
Garber said the university has commenced initiatives to make Harvard a “more pluralistic and welcoming place” where there is greater intellectual diversity on campuses.
In her May 5 letter, McMahon said that “at its best, a university should fulfill the highest ideals of our Nation, and enlighten the thousands of hopeful students who walk through its magnificent gates. But Harvard has betrayed this ideal.”
McMahon accused Harvard of engaging in “ugly racism” in undergraduate and graduate schools, including within the Harvard Law Review itself.
In one alleged instance, the Harvard Law Review’s editor reportedly said it was “concerning” that four of the five individuals who wanted to reply to an article about police reform were white men, the Education Department said. In another alleged instance, an editor suggested expediting the review of submissions from minority contributors.
The May 5 letter criticized Harvard Corporation, which manages the university’s academic, financial, and physical resources. The corporation is being run by “strongly left-leaning Obama political appointee Penny Pritzker,“ the letter said, accusing her of ”running the institution in a totally chaotic way.”
