In two further developments in the federal government’s demands of Harvard, Internal Revenue Service acting chief legal counsel Andrew De Mello has been asked by officials in the Treasury department to begin the process of revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status, according to The Wall Street Journal; simultaneously, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has threatened to revoke Harvard’s authorization to host international students.
An April 16 press release posted to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website stated that Noem had canceled two DHS grants to Harvard totaling $2.7 million. She also wrote a letter to the University demanding records “by April 30, 2025” of any “illegal and violent activities” by foreign students studying at Harvard on student visas. Failure to comply, the press statement read, would lead to “immediate loss of Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification,” which would cause the University to “lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students.” The Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which manages foreign students and exchange visitors to the United States through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, is run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The separate threat to Harvard’s tax-exempt status would make charitable contributions to the University taxable and force Harvard to pay income and property taxes (the University currently makes payments in lieu of taxes to Boston and Cambridge, its two principal host communities).
Harvard spokesperson Sarah Kennedy O’Reilly said that “Harvard is aware of the Department of Homeland Security’s letter regarding grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas, which—like the Administration’s announcement of the freeze of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts, and reports of the revocation of Harvard’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status—follows on the heels of our statement that Harvard will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. We continue to stand by that statement. We will continue to comply with the law and expect the Administration to do the same.”
She added that “Harvard values the rule of law and expects all members of our community to comply with University policies and applicable legal standards. If federal action is taken against a member of our community, we expect it will be based on clear evidence, follow established legal procedures, and respect the constitutional rights afforded to all individuals.”
