Obama Praises Harvard for Rejecting Trump’s ‘Unlawful’ DEI Policy Demands

Former President Barack Obama praised Harvard for refusing to bow to President Donald Trump’s DEI demands on Monday after the current administration retaliated against the university by freezing $2.2 billion in multiyear grants and $60 million in multiyear contract value .

“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,” Obama wrote on X. “Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”

Earlier on Monday, the Ivy League school became the first university to actively oppose Trump’s demands to discontinue diversity programming, limit student protests and provide full transparency to federal regulators. Prior to Trump, Harvard normally received roughly $9 billion in federal funding.

“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,” president Alan Garber wrote in an email to the Harvard community. “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”

“Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” he continued. “It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner.”

In turn, a joint task for led by Health and Human Services responded: “Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws.”

Some of Trump’s additional demands included a ban on masks, screenings for international students who might be “supportive of terrorism and anti-Semitism” and full cooperation under the Department of Homeland Security.

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