Trump’s Demands to Harvard Were a Mistake

The Trump administration’s demands to Harvard that sparked the university’s resounding rejection last week were sent by mistake, The New York Times reported. 

The demands were sent April 11 from three members of the federal antisemitism task force. Among other changes, the task force wanted Harvard to implement new policies on what student clubs can exist, to reform multiple programs “with egregious records of antisemitism or other bias,” and submit to a federal audit of students’, professors’ and administrators’ “viewpoint diversity.” That letter built on an April 3 letter from the task force. 

Harvard officials balked at the demands and declared April 14 that the university “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.” That public rejection has prompted threats to Harvard’s tax-exempt status and ability to enroll international students. The task force also frozen $2.26 billion of Harvard’s grants and contracts.

But White House officials told the Times on Friday that the letter shouldn’t have been sent and that Harvard’s lawyers should’ve called someone from the task force to ask about it. The administration is standing by the letter, though. 

Harvard officials responded in a statement to the Times that the letter “was signed by three federal officials, placed on official letterhead, was sent from the email inbox of a senior federal official.” 

“Recipients of such correspondence from the U.S. government—even when it contains sweeping demands that are astonishing in their overreach—do not question its authenticity or seriousness,” the statement said.