Harvard stands out from several other universities and a range of powerful law firms, folding powerful law firms under tremendous pressure as the White House crackdown on American institutions.
A major tax bill threat comes after Harvard University froze $2.2 billion in federal funds on Monday.
Trump said nonprofit Harvard “should lose tax exemption status and be taxed as a political entity” if he does not meet his requirements to require colleges to change their own campaign style, including the authority to choose students and professors.
In his post on his Truth Social Network, he added that the status of tax exemption “is entirely dependent on the conduct of the public interest.”
Trump and his White House team defended the college’s pressure campaign because their response to what they said was uncontrolled anti-Semitism and support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Trump “want to see Harvard apologize.
The anti-Semitism accusations are based on controversy over protests that swept Israel’s war in Gaza last year.
Columbia University in New York (the center of the protests) stood down last month and agreed to oversee the Eastern Department after being threatened by $400 million in federal funding.
The White House also has dozens of colleges and universities that threaten to cancel federal funds to encourage racial diversity among students and employees.
The White House also mentioned ideological goals in its unprecedented crackdown on law firms, forcing them to voluntarily provide hundreds of millions of dollars worth of legal work to support Trump’s support.
Harvard University
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Harvard University is the oldest and richest university in the United States and is now the most outstanding institution to resist Trump’s growing control.
The Trump administration requires many Harvard departments to be subject to external oversight by potential anti-Semitism. It also attempts to require “diversity of perspective” in student admissions and professor selection.
Harvard President Alan Garber said the school will not “negotiate on its independence or constitutional rights.”
“Harvard and any other private university cannot allow the federal government to take over itself,” he wrote.
The standoff could have caused a long-term, high-profile battle.
Tough presidential advisers such as Stephen Miller describe the university as a bastion of anti-conservative forces that need to be brought to the heels, a message that resonates strongly with Trump’s tough anti-democracy base.
For Trump’s opponents, Harvard’s refusal to bending marks a chance to draw a line on the land to resist the takeover of dictatorship.
Former President Barack Obama wrote on X: “Harvard sets an example for other top institutions – rejecting the illegality of stifling academic freedom and trying to stifle academic freedom.
Harvard newspaper “Crimson” praised Garber’s resistance, saying: “Harvard conveys the clearest and bravest message to date: Our values are not for sale.”
But, the crimson warns: “Harvard can’t be alone.”
“Harvard faces a difficult choice: losing billions of dollars in federal funds or sacrificing hundreds of years of soul. It chooses. Now, hope our peers follow suit.”
