A student protester stands in front of the statue of John Harvard, draped in the Palestinian flag, Harvard University, Massachusetts, April 25, 2024 (AP)

Barack Obama has voiced his support for Harvard University following the Trump administration's decision to slash $2 billion in federal funding. The funding cut came after Harvard pushed back against what it described as an attempt by the government to interfere in the university’s internal affairs.

At the same time, faculty members at Yale University called on their administration to stand firm “to resist and legally challenge any unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and … self-governance”.

Obama, who served as president from 2009 to 2017, praised Harvard’s stance, saying the university has shown leadership by standing up to an overreaching effort to suppress academic freedom.

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… https://t.co/gAu9UUqgjF
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 15, 2025

“Let’s hope other institutions follow suit”, the former US President said.

Tensions escalated late Monday between top US universities and the federal government after Harvard pushed back against heightened demands from the Trump administration. While the administration claims these measures aim to address antisemitism on campuses, many in the academic community view them as a disguised attempt to restrict broader academic freedoms.

“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,” Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, said.

The Trump administration, acting through a multi-federal agency task force aimed at addressing antisemitism on campus, froze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract funding allocated to Harvard.

Universities follow suit

Obama's reactionary statement came after 876 Yale faculty members published a letter to their leadership.

“We stand together at a crossroads,” the letter read. “American universities are facing extraordinary attacks that threaten the bedrock principles of a democratic society, including rights of free expression, association, and academic freedom. We write as one faculty, to ask you to stand with us now.”

The letter nods to Harvard's similar predicament, asking Yale’s leadership to “work purposefully and proactively with other colleges and universities in collective defense”.

Unlike Harvard, Columbia University in New York agreed to partially comply with a set of demands from the Trump administration concerning how it will manage campus protests, academic departments, and antisemitism. This decision came after the university was warned it could lose federal funding. However, Columbia also defended the importance of academic freedom in its response.

Princeton University in New Jersey, on the other hand, said it has not received a specific list of demands from the government. In an email to the university community earlier in April, President Christopher Eisgruber stated that although the reasoning behind the administration’s threat to pull funding is still unclear, the university “will comply with the law.”

“We are committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination, and we will cooperate with the government in combating antisemitism,” Eisgruber added. “Princeton will also vigorously defend academic freedom and the due process rights of this university.”

“The Trump administration is using the threat of funding cuts as a tactic to force universities to yield to government control over research, teaching, and speech on private campuses. It is flagrantly unlawful,” said a statement from Rachel Goodman, counsel with Protect Democracy who represents the American Association of University Professors in its challenge to the termination of federal funding at Columbia.

Columbia agreed to a ban on face masks, to bar protests inside academic buildings and to review the administration of Middle East studies programs. It also agreed to expanding “intellectual diversity” by appointing new faculty members to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies department.

Crackdown or cover?

The Trump administration says the main goal of its "antisemitism" task force is to “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses.” However, many critics argue that this is being used as a pretext to push a broader conservative agenda, such as removing racial considerations in college admissions and challenging what the administration views as a strong liberal influence in higher education.

This week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “wants to see Harvard apologize” for what she described as “the egregious antisemitism that took place on their college campus.” She added, “When it comes to Harvard … the president has been quite clear: they must follow federal law.”

On Tuesday, Trump published a post on his Truth Social platform saying, “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity”.

Leo Terrell, who leads the task force and is a former Fox News commentator, took an even harder line in March, saying, “We’re going to bankrupt these universities” if they refuse to “play ball.”

So far, the administration has frozen or canceled more than $11 billion in funding across at least seven universities, as part of what it calls an effort to end “ideological capture.” Additionally, around 300 students, recent graduates, and postdoctoral researchers have had their visas or immigration statuses revoked in connection with the crackdown.

On Monday, MIT President Sally Kornbluth revealed that nine of the university’s students had their visas revoked in the past week. She warned that these actions could discourage top international talent from coming to the US, ultimately harming the country’s long-term competitiveness and leadership in science and research.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Linda McMahon told the Wall Street Journal that the federal government has the authority to request changes to university policies when institutions receive federal funding. “If you’re taking federal funds, then we want to make sure that you’re abiding by federal law,” she said. McMahon pushed back on claims that the administration is trying to limit academic freedom or the right to protest peacefully.