The Trump administration will request federal agencies to cut off their contracts with Harvard University in response to what it says is the school’s handling of anti-Semitism and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The administration has already canceled around $2.6 billion in federal grants after the university declined to accede to a list of government demands to change policies concerning DEI and anti-Semitism. The university has sued the administration, alleging the move violates the Constitution’s free speech protections.
There are 30 federal contracts worth about $100 million, according to the General Services Administration (GSA). A letter to the agencies is scheduled to be sent on May 27, a GSA spokesperson told The Epoch Times.
It is to “determine which are non-critical and could be terminated for convenience, and which are critical and should be transitioned to another vendor,” the spokesperson said.
The letter said that receiving federal funding is a privilege and not a right.
“Being a counterparty with the federal government comes with the deep responsibility and commitment to abide by all federal laws and ensure the safeguarding of taxpayer money. As fiduciaries to the taxpayer, the government has a duty to ensure that procurement dollars are directed to vendors and contractors who promote and champion principles of nondiscrimination and the national interest,” Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, wrote in the letter.
Gruenbaum stated that “each agency should consider its contracts with Harvard University and determine whether Harvard and its services efficiently promote the priorities of the agency.”
He also recommends that each agency “terminate for convenience each contract that it determines has failed to meet its standards, and transition to a new vendor those contracts that could be better serviced by an alternative counterparty.”
Were an agency to want to keep a contract with Harvard or to extend the period for terminating a contract with the school, he said, it needs to give a reason for taking that course of action.
The letter listed incidents as examples of Harvard’s problems.
One was the Harvard Law Review’s awarding a $65,000 fellowship to a student who was charged with assaulting a Jewish student in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. Another student who was charged in the incident was the class marshal at Harvard Divinity School’s commencement.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Harvard for comment on the letter.
“I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land. What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that Harvard would no longer be allowed to accept foreign students. This action has been put on hold by the courts following legal action taken by the university.
Trump has announced that his administration will end Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
