A year ago, the biggest story in America was the rash of college campus protests that was breaking out all over the country. Colloquially termed the “tentifada,” this outbreak was the result of left-wing states and the feckless Biden administration’s refusal to protect Jewish students on college campuses in the way that they would any other minority group that was targeted for harassment and abuse by their fellow students and faculty members. A lot can change in a year, however, and now Donald Trump is President, and he is taking on these universities that refuse to abide by Civil Rights Law and protect students who are attacked on the basis of nationality.
This action is the culmination of a policy Trump began in his first term. In December 2019, Trump issued an executive order affirming that Jews are protected under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act because Judaism is not merely a religion, it is a nationality. This was then affirmed by the House of Representatives in 2023 in a wide bipartisan vote. So, no university can claim that they didn’t understand the ramifications of their actions when they refused to protect Jewish students on their campuses.
Yet Harvard thinks it is special, and so it refused to comply with a series of demands issued by a federal task force. In response to that, the Trump administration has frozen $2.26 billion in multiyear federal grants and contracts to Harvard University. These demands, outlined in a letter to the university, include nine specific reforms aimed at restructuring Harvard’s governance, admissions policies, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. Among the proposed changes are a comprehensive ban on masks during campus protests to prevent anonymity, reforms to leadership and governance structures, and measures to address alleged ideological bias that the administration claims fuels anti-Semitic harassment.
The Trump administration’s actions against Harvard stem from the work of the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, established in February to address rising anti-Semitic incidents on US college campuses. Formed under the Department of Education, the task force has conducted investigations into several universities, and to date has issued compliance directives to institutions like Columbia University and UCLA, mandating policy reviews and recommending funding penalties for non-compliance. The task force’s letter specifically cites Harvard’s DEI programs as problematic, arguing that they promote reverse discrimination by prioritizing group outcomes over individual merit.
Additionally, the administration has called for a mask ban to prevent anonymity during campus protests, particularly by students on visas who may engage in activities deemed anti-American. The task force also demands reforms to address ideological capture, improve viewpoint diversity, and ensure that Harvard’s policies do not enable harassment of Jewish students. “If Harvard is facilitating environments where anti-Semitism thrives, it cannot expect to receive billions in taxpayer dollars without accountability,” a spokesperson for the administration said.
Harvard President Alan Garber swiftly condemned the federal government’s intervention, arguing that the demands represent an unprecedented intrusion into the university’s autonomy. “The federal government’s attempt to dictate our governance and policies undermines the principles of academic freedom and institutional independence,” Garber said in a statement. He emphasized that Harvard remains committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all students, including its Jewish community. Yet Jewish students on campus feel otherwise.
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard Divinity School graduate and lead plaintiff in a Title VI lawsuit against the university, has emerged as a vocal critic of Harvard’s response to campus anti-Semitism. In a recent post on X, Kestenbaum argued that the Trump administration’s $2.26 billion funding freeze is a justified response to Harvard’s persistent violation of civil rights law. He contends that Harvard has no constitutional right to federal funds, while Jewish students have a clear right to an educational environment free from discrimination. Kestenbaum draws parallels to historical precedents where federal funding was withheld from institutions that failed to address racism or sexism, asserting that Harvard’s refusal to combat anti-Semitism is neither brave nor principled but reflective of an elite institution expecting taxpayer subsidies while fostering discriminatory environments. He emphasizes that the federal government’s intervention is a necessary step to hold Harvard accountable, given its failure to protect Jewish students and its reliance on billions in tax breaks.
Harvard’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration in the face of funding freezes has drawn many admirers, including former President Barack Obama. “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions,” Obama posted on X, “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.” Needless to say, Obama would be singing a far different tune if any other minority student population was the target of harassment on campus.
The Trump administration has been fighting a multi-sided war on Leftism in every institution it has captured. Whether it’s in bloated government bureaucracies, sports, the arts, or the university system, Trump is taking revenge on behalf of all people who are sick of the radicalism of Leftists infecting everything. Harvard University is his latest, but not his final, target. The notion that Harvard deserves government funding when it is in violation of the law is laughable. Trump is taking the morally correct action and using the weapons at his disposal to accomplish his goal. The only reason it has come this far is because Leftists believe that Jews are not worthy of protection. Trump is righting that wrong – one university at a time.
Moshe Hill is a political analyst and columnist. His work can be found at www.aHillwithaView.com and on X at @HillWithView.
