Harvard never wanted or expected this. University leaders had spent the spring in conversation with the Trump administration, which threatened to withdraw federal funding if charges of antisemitism on campus were not addressed. But when a letter arrived on April 11 with a list of sweeping demands—effectively giving the government control of Harvard’s hiring, admissions, and even the makeup of academic departments—negotiations came to a halt. In an interview with NBC later that month, President Alan M. Garber explained the decision: “The stakes are so high that we have no choice” but to fight.
So launched the extraordinary battle that is playing out in federal court, in op-ed pages, on social media, and sometimes in the streets. The government has targeted Harvard’s research funding, endowment, and ability to enroll international students. Harvard has filed two federal lawsuits, seeking to stop the government’s actions on the grounds of free speech violations and administrative overreach. And the University’s stand against the Trump administration has made Harvard a symbol in the public eye—a stand-in for higher education, globalization, and the government’s traditional role in advancing science and innovation.
Lost sometimes in the rhetoric are the details. How does research funding work, and what purpose does it serve? Where do the University’s finances stand, and how would the government’s threats affect each of Harvard’s separate schools? Who is driving the decisions and making the legal arguments?
Harvard Magazine has compiled a primer for this tumultuous moment and gathered a range of voices—from social media posts, op-ed pages, letters from readers, and our own outreach—that reflect the outpouring of support the University has received, as well as some key points of dissent. Read on for those voices, and click below for more coverage of Harvard’s standoff.
—The Editors
The Voices
“The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”
—President Alan M. Garber, statement to the University community, April 21, 2025
“Every time they fight, they lose another $250 million.”
—Donald J. Trump, White House press conference, May 30, 2025
I never felt it necessary to provide support for an institution with a $50 billion endowment. Now, that’s changed. I’m going to give Harvard ten times more than I ever have. I urge the hundreds and thousands who have ever benefited from a Harvard education to do the same.
—James S. Gordon ’62, M.D. ’66, letter to Harvard Magazine
I was heartened to see that Harvard University will not buckle to Trump’s bullying tactics, and I look forward both to other threatened universities rallying against Trump in unity, and to the fight ahead. I am only sorry that Claudine Gay is not at the helm. Thank you, Prof. Garber.
—James Stephen Uleman, Ph.D. ’66, letter to Harvard Magazine
As a non-Jew, I was appalled at Harvard’s failure to address antisemitism following the horrific events of October 7, 2023. Rather than do the right thing and adopt meaningful reforms, Harvard has now decided to portray itself as a champion of academic freedom. However, no private institution has a right to demand that taxpayers continue to fund discrimination, exclusion, and intolerance.
—Keith Paul Bishop ’78, letter to Harvard Magazine
Regardless of anything else, Harvard must continue to fight for integrity and freedom from the craziness of this governmental overreach. If not, it would lose everything that made it special anyway.
—Benjamin T. Beasley, J.D. ’10, letter to Harvard Magazine
“If the universities want to remain open to international students, they should first do a better job of being open to the Other America, which they have mocked and despised for decades.”
—Harvard Law School Professor Adrian Vermeule, X
“Punishing Harvard by cutting off valuable scientific research funding is a dubious tactic. But I’m also sympathetic to the idea that structural reform is an omelette and some of these institutions are the necessary eggs.”
—Gerard Baker, The Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2025
Never have I been prouder!
—Norton F. Tennille Jr., A.M. ’63, J.D. ‘68, letter to Harvard Magazine
“Harvard has fallen so far from its powerful founding motto: Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae. @Harvard continues to fail to save itself.”
—U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik ’06, X, June 1, 2025
I graduated from Harvard in 1968 and until today, I never bought one piece of Harvard memorabilia — no Harvard chairs, no Harvard sweatshirts. That all ended when Harvard had the balls to stand up to Trump. I just ordered a Harvard t-shirt. It’s the least I can do to say that I’m proud of my alma mater.
—Frank E.Perron III ’68, letter to Harvard Magazine
“Xi Jinping and his erstwhile rival for the Chinese presidency, Bo Xilai, disagreed about many things. But both believed that the best place in the world that their daughter and son, respectively, could go for higher education was Harvard.”
—Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post, May 30, 2025
I have never been more disappointed with Harvard. I know I am not the only voice of dissent.
—James Gerard Ryan Jr. ’82, letter to Harvard Magazine
I see no problem with the recent federal cutbacks in University funding. With a large endowment and helpful legacies, institutions like Harvard should survive on their own. Invite a study of painless cost-cuttings by DOGE.
—Walter S. Rowland ’61, letter to Harvard Magazine
In his letter to Harvard’s president after receiving word that he had received an honorary degree from the college in 1852, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: “It was within [your] walls that the first and greatest propositions of civil and political liberty were supported, close to a century ago.” Today, Tocqueville would be proud.
—Robert T. Gannett Jr. ’72, letter to Harvard Magazine
I’m hardly an apologist for my employer when I say that the invective now being aimed at Harvard has become unhinged.
—Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker, The New York Times, May 23, 2025
Even if it means a contraction in the overall scope of Harvard’s reach, it is better to be smaller and have integrity.
—Billy Adams, M.B.A. ‘74, letter to Harvard Magazine
There are issues the government is right to look at. Academic freedom does not mean universities are unconstrained by the Civil Rights Act, the Constitution and much more.
But totalizing efforts at destruction are never legal in America and doing vast damage beyond their object is a reason the Founding Fathers separated powers. The judiciary has to stop the overreach and support the reasonable enforcement of law with regard to Harvard and many other places.
—Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, Ph.D. ’82, X, May 28, 2025
