In a sharp escalation of its dispute with Harvard University, US President Donald Trump has announced that the institution will no longer receive federal funding for research.
Since “no will be provided,” US Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon wrote to Harvard on Monday, saying the prestigious university had created a “mockery” of higher education.
According to McMahon, “Harvard will cease to be a publicly funded institution and can operate as a privately funded institution, drawing on its enormous endowment, and raising money from its large base of wealthy alumni.”
The Trump administration’s decision comes after Harvard received nearly $2.3 billion in federal funding last month as a result of what it alleged was an inaction on campus.
After Harvard rejected a number of demands that it claimed would subject the university to excessive government control, including that it cooperate with external faculty and student audits to ensure “viewpoint diversity,” the administration announced the freeze.
Former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO McMahon addressed a number of complaints made by conservatives frequently about the university in her letter, including claims that it had promoted lax academic standards and accepted foreign students who “engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States of America.”
“Where do so many of these “students” come from, who are they, and how do they enter Harvard, or even our country, and why is there such a high level of hatred?” In the letter, McMahon compared Trump’s emphasis on particular words to the use of all-capital letters.
The biggest question of all is, why won’t Harvard provide straightforward answers to the American public, as the saying goes, “These are questions that need to be answered, among many more, among others.”
According to a statement from Harvard, which is contesting the Trump administration’s earlier funding freeze, McMahon’s latest demands will have “chilling implications for higher education.”
A university spokesman said in response to Harvard’s filing of its lawsuit on April 21, that the letter today threatens to illegally withhold funding for lifesaving research and innovation.
“Harvard will continue to uphold the law, uphold and encourage respect for viewpoint diversity, and stop antisemitism in our community,” said the statement. Additionally, Harvard will continue to fight against illegal government overreach intended to stifle research and innovation that would improve the security and safety of Americans.
Since the alleged anti-Semitism that occurred on US universities last year in response to widespread student protests against Israel’s occupation of Gaza, there has been controversy.
Separate Harvard task forces claimed that students and staff had experienced anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim bias on campus in two reports released last month.
In response to the reports, Harvard President Alan Garber expressed concern that some students had been forced “to the periphery of campus life because of who they are or what they believe” and pledged to work harder to make sure the university was a place where “mutual respect is the norm.”
Source: Aljazeera
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