Former President Barack Obama commended Harvard University for announcing it won’t comply with Trump administration’s demands to limit on-campus activism, and he encouraged other institutions to follow.
The Trump administration on Friday sent a letter to Harvard calling for “merit-based” admissions and hiring policies, the expelling of violent anti-Israel demonstrators, and demanding an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
In a letter to the school’s community Monday, Harvard President Alan Garber said the demands violated the university’s First Amendment rights and “exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI,” which prohibits discrimination against students based on their race, color, or national origin.
Obama, a 1991 Harvard Law School graduate, took to social media to praise the school’s actions.
“Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope other institutions follow suit,” Obama wrote Monday night on X.
After Garber’s letter became public, the federal government said it’s freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard.
Harvard is one of several Ivy League schools targeted in a pressure campaign by the administration, which also has paused federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, and Princeton to force compliance with its agenda. Harvard’s demand letter is similar to the one that prompted changes at Columbia University under the threat of billions of dollars in cuts.
The American Association of University Professors on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging the cuts. The plaintiffs argue that the administration has failed to follow steps required under Title VI before it starts cutting funds, and giving notice of the cuts to the university and Congress.
Two weeks ago, Obama told a crowd at Hamilton College in New York that Americans may have to “possibly sacrifice” if they want to stick up for democratic values.
“Now we’re at one of those moments where it’s not just enough to say you’re for something, you might actually have to do something and possibly sacrifice a bit,” he told the crowd. “If we say we’re for equality, are we willing to risk something for it? We believe in freedom of speech, do we still stand up when we disagree, when it’s hurtful, when it infuriates us?”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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