Obama backs Harvard as Yale faculty members support standing up to Trump

Barack Obama has come out in support of Harvard after the Trump administration rejected what he called an attempt by the Ivy League school in Massachusetts to "government control" the university.

Meanwhile, the faculty of Yale University - another prominent Ivy League institution - has called on its leadership to "resist and legally challenge any unlawful claims that threaten academic freedom and ... self-governance."

A statement from US President Obama from 2009 to 2017 said: "Harvard has set an example for other higher education institutions - by rejecting an unlawful and instrumental attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking strong steps to ensure that all Harvard students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect."

"I hope other institutions will follow suit."

The standoff between some of the most prestigious universities in the US and the federal government deepened on Monday after Harvard rejected a demand raised by the Donald Trump administration, which the president called an effort to curb anti-Semitism on campus. But many faculty see the demands as a thinly veiled attempt to stifle academic freedom more broadly.

"No government - regardless of the party in power - should dictate what private universities can teach, who they can admit and hire, and what areas of study and inquiry they can pursue," said Harvard President Alan Garber.

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The Trump administration responded by freezing $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value to Harvard through a multi-federal agency joint task force to combat anti-Semitism.

On Tuesday, Trump himself published a post on his Truth social platform saying that "Harvard should probably lose its tax-exempt status and be taxed as a political entity."

Obama's intervention came after 876 Yale faculty members published a letter to their leadership advocating for a stand against the Trump administration.

"We are at a crossroads," the letter read. “American universities are facing an unprecedented attack that threatens the very principles of a democratic society, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and academic freedom. We write as a faculty, urging you to stand with us now.”

While the letter did not specifically mention Harvard, it called on Yale’s leadership to “work purposefully and proactively with other colleges and universities in collective defense.”

Columbia University in New York, the site of pro-Palestinian protests in 2024, has agreed to partially comply with a series of demands from the Trump administration about how to handle such protests, academic departments, and anti-Semitism, after receiving warnings that it would lose federal funding. But it also protected academic freedom.

Princeton in New Jersey said it had not received a specific list of demands from the government. In an email to the community in early April, university president Christopher Eisgruber said that while the rationale for the administration’s threat to cut off funding remains unclear, the university “will abide by the law.”

“We are committed to combating anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in the fight against anti-Semitism,” Eisgruber added. “Princeton will also vigorously defend the university’s academic freedom and due process rights.”

“The Trump administration is using the threat of cutting funding as a tactic to force universities to submit to government control over research, teaching, and speech on private campuses. This is clearly unlawful,” said Rachel Goodman, a senior counsel for the American Association of University Professors, in a statement.

Columbia has agreed to ban face masks to protect its identity, ban demonstrations inside academic buildings, and review how its Middle East studies program is run. It has agreed to expand “intellectual diversity,” including hiring new faculty members for the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.

The stated goal of the Trump administration’s anti-Semitism task force is to “root out anti-Semitic harassment on school and college campuses.” But many believe it is a cover for a variety of conservative goals, including eliminating racial quotas in admissions — and reinstating what the administration sees as far-left bias in education.

“We will cut off funding to schools that support the Marxist attack on our American heritage and Western civilization,” Trump said in 2023. “The days of subsidizing communist ideology in our colleges will soon be over.”