Edited by: Fern Sidman

In a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to hold elite academic institutions accountable for antisemitism and political radicalism on campus, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday that it is officially canceling $2.7 million in grants to Harvard University. As reported by the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), the decision follows Monday’s freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funds to the Ivy League university due to its refusal to comply with a series of federal reforms aimed at safeguarding Jewish students and rooting out campus extremism.

The action, coordinated by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, is part of a broader Trump administration crackdown on what it has described as the spread of pro-Hamas, anti-American ideology within elite universities, particularly since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks against Israel.

“Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism—driven by its spineless leadership—fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security,” Secretary Noem stated in a sharply worded press release obtained by JNS. “With anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology poisoning its campus and classrooms, Harvard’s position as a top institution of higher learning is a distant memory. America demands more from universities entrusted with taxpayer dollars.”

The $2.7 million in canceled grants were earmarked for various DHS-related initiatives, but officials at the department made clear that Harvard’s conduct no longer met the standard of eligibility. Among the administration’s demands were the abolition of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, enhanced efforts to address antisemitism, and the requirement that the university disclose records of foreign students potentially involved in illegal or radical activity.

The JNS report noted that the Department of Homeland Security specifically warned that Harvard could lose its certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) if it fails to verify its compliance.

“With a $53.2 billion endowment, Harvard can fund its own chaos,” the DHS statement said. “But the Department of Homeland Security won’t.”

The department also emphasized that if Harvard cannot demonstrate compliance with federal visa reporting standards, it could lose the ability to enroll international students altogether—a move with potentially devastating consequences for both the university’s global standing and revenue streams.

In response, Harvard University President Alan Garber issued a defiant statement on Monday, declaring that the administration’s directives violated the university’s First Amendment rights and encroached on the autonomy of private educational institutions.

“The administration’s prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government,” Garber said. “It violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI, and it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.”

“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 added.

However, critics—led by President Donald Trump himself—argue that Harvard’s invocation of academic freedom is a smokescreen designed to protect its failure to confront what the JNS report described as an increasingly toxic and dangerous atmosphere for Jewish students on campus.

“Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the world’s great universities or colleges,” Trump said in a statement Wednesday. “Harvard is a joke, teaches hate and stupidity, and should no longer receive federal funds.”

According to the information provided in the JNS report, the DHS’s actions are rooted in disturbing developments that have unfolded on Harvard’s campus since the October 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel. The department alleges that foreign students and faculty on temporary visas have been involved in harassment and intimidation of Jewish students, while the university administration has done little to protect their safety or punish misconduct.

The administration’s stance is clear: universities that accept billions in federal funding must be held to the highest standards in defending constitutional rights and national security—especially when it comes to protecting students from religious-based hate and investigating foreign nationals engaged in extremist conduct.

This case is likely just the beginning of a broader federal reckoning with higher education, particularly as the Trump administration continues to investigate campus antisemitism, visa violations, and the ideological capture of taxpayer-funded institutions.

As the JNS report noted, the unprecedented funding freeze signals a new era of accountability, where elite universities may no longer assume they can insulate themselves from oversight while accepting billions in federal support.

Whether Harvard will reverse its course and comply—or face the full consequences of defiance—remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Washington’s relationship with America’s ivory towers has fundamentally changed, and the message from the DHS is resounding—no more blank checks for institutions that tolerate hate.