‘David Harvard’ versus ‘Goliath Trump’

The Harvard University shield “VERITAS” sits above a campus entrance gate at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 15, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The ongoing conflict between Harvard University and the Trump 2.0 administration has dramatically escalated since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared on May 22 that it would prohibit Harvard from enrolling international students. Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, calling the action a “blatant violation” of constitutional rights. While the litigation continues, a federal judge has temporarily barred the government’s decision.

Mr. Trump has long attacked elite universities, claiming that they promote ideologies that are incompatible with American principles. Throughout the 2024 campaign trail, he pledged to reduce “excessively large private endowments” through taxes, fines, and lawsuits. He vowed to reclaim America’s “once great educational institutions from the radical Left and Marxist Maniacs.” In 2021, Vice President J.D. Vance called universities “the enemy”. It is therefore not surprising that Mr. Trump is now attempting to exert unheard-of influence over university matters.

An escalating crisis

In mid-March, the Trump administration pulled $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University and handed a “ransom note” with numerous demands for returning the funds. Columbia collapsed under pressure. To win over universities, that was a significant step forward. However, a victory over Harvard, the oldest and wealthiest American university, was necessary for Mr. Trump to control universities. Incidentally, Harvard has been perceived by Mr. Trump and his MAGA supporters as having a liberal leaning, serving as a foundation for American elitism, opposing free expression, advocating DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and undermining traditional values.

In April, the administration’s demands that Harvard restrict the influence of its faculty and students, report any conduct violations by international students to federal authorities, and designate an outside party to guarantee that each academic department is “viewpoint diverse” marked the beginning of the current conflict. According to Harvard President Alan Garber, fulfilling these demands would give the federal government “control over the Harvard community” and endanger the university’s “values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.”

Harvard, with a huge $52 billion endowment, refused to “fold” like Columbia did. When the administration froze $2.26 billion in its multiyear grants, Harvard filed a lawsuit. On May 5, Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote that Harvard wouldn’t be eligible for any more federal grants until it demonstrates “responsible management.” Subsequently, the university lost $450 million in grants from eight U.S. agencies.

The administration vowed to deprive Harvard of its tax-exempt status. A substantial tax hike on the net investment from private college endowments, such as Harvard’s, has been included in legislation passed by the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Republicans. Since wealthy donors frequently donate to tax-exempt institutions to reduce their own tax obligations, this would impact the school’s capacity to generate money.

Harvard broadened its lawsuit to include the additional budget cuts. In a statement dated May 22, the DHS claimed that Harvard’s leadership “created an unsafe environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals.” It claimed that international students made up a large portion of the agitators.

The Trump administration had the option of acting slowly. It could have let Harvard’s ongoing grants expire quietly, refused to renew them, and penalised universities for alleged racial discrimination. Instead, it has created a huge noise in a hurry and, consequently, succeeded in transforming Harvard University into a valiant ‘David’ opposing the government’s ‘Goliath’.

Harvard accuses the Trump administration of using international students as pawns in a “campaign of retribution… without process or cause.” Nearly 6,800 international students attend Harvard, making up 27% of its total student body. Revoking visa authorisation, according to the university, would seriously and immediately disrupt its day-to-day operations and require it to rescind admission to thousands of applicants.

What next?

While the U.S. may be undermining its own power by targeting its universities, the U.S. government has control over who is allowed to enter the country. To accept international students, American educational institutions are required to retain a certification through the DHS’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program. Therefore, the government may jeopardise Harvard’s international enrolment if it wishes to do so.

Harvard’s battle against the Trump administration is turning into an epic and will surely serve as a historical reference in any discussion over academic freedom. What’s more, Mr. Trump might have just “crowned” Harvard as the opposition leader. Whether or not ‘David Harvard’ defeats ‘Goliath Trump’, this battle could help redraw the boundaries for ‘academic freedom’, which remains an abstract concept, and serve as a road map to rethink the relationship between the government and universities in other parts of the world. A shadowy region would remain, though, which would orchestrate many such future confrontations.