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The Trump administration has concluded that Harvard University violated federal civil rights law in its handling of Jewish and Israeli students, and it threatened the school with a potential “loss of all federal financial resources” as a result, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In a Monday letter addressed to the Harvard president, Alan Garber, administration attorneys stated that the university was aware Jewish and Israeli students felt unsafe on campus but failed to take meaningful action. The letter, obtained by the Journal, accused Harvard of “deliberate indifference” toward those concerns.
“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” the letter warned.
The reported letter marks the latest move in the Trump administration’s broader effort to target elite academic institutions it says have ignored antisemitism and pushed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the expense of student safety.
Harvard, the oldest university in the US, has become a central focus of this campaign.
Typically, a formal notice of civil-rights violations can precede legal action by the US justice department or end in a negotiated settlement. Previous administrations often opted for voluntary resolution agreements rather than pursuing lawsuits in similar cases.
According to the letter, the university stood by for two years while Jewish and Israeli students were “assaulted and spit on”, leading many to hide their identities out of fear. The letter also says that antisemitic imagery, including a dollar sign inside a Star of David, circulated on campus – and that antisemitic vandalism included an Israeli flag defaced with a swastika replacing the Star of David.
In April, Harvard released internal reviews that described a campus disunited by tensions after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. The reports acknowledged that both Jewish and Muslim students felt threatened and outlined steps the university had taken or planned to take to address campus bias.
Trump has made several previous moves against Harvard, including trying to block the university’s ability to admit international students and threatening its tax-exempt status. In response, Harvard has filed a lawsuit accusing the administration of violating its constitutional free speech and due-process rights.
Despite the conflict, Trump recently suggested progress had been made. Earlier in June, he wrote on social media: “We have been working closely with Harvard, and it is very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so. They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations and appear to be committed to doing what is right.”
Trump has also launched ongoing attacks against other universities, among the University of Virginia (UVA), which recently received “explicit” notification from the Trump administration that the school would endure cuts to university jobs, research funding and student aid as well as visas if the institution’s president, Jim Ryan, did not resign, according to the US senator Mark Warner. Ryan resigned from his position on Friday.
