Brandon Drennon
BBC News, Washington DC
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Protesters were calling on the university to reject requests from the White House
President Donald Trump has called on Harvard to lose his valuable tax credit. Hours after his administration announced that it would freeze more than $2 billion (£1.5 billion) in the federal fund of elite agencies.
The White House is calling for the oldest universities in the United States to make changes to employment, admissions and educational practices that they say will help combat anti-Semitism on campus.
Since taking office, Trump has pushed him to restructure top universities by threatening to withhold federal funds designated for research.
Harvard University became the first US university to reject the administration’s request on Monday, accusing the White House of trying to “control” its community.
In a social media post Tuesday morning, Trump threatened to target Harvard’s tax-free status beyond federal funds withholding.
Universities and many charities and religious organizations are exempt from paying federal income taxes. However, this valuable tax credit can be removed if the group engages in political activities or leaves its identified purpose.
“Perhaps Harvard should be taxed as a political entity if he loses his tax-exempt status and is inspired by political, ideological, terrorist-inspired and continues to “support/support the disease,” he wrote of the True Society. ”
Losing the exemption costs Harvard millions of dollars each year.
Ivy League agencies also have asset funds, or donations, worth $53 billion.
Later Tuesday, White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said he wanted to apologise to the university for saying that Trump has continued anti-Semitic tolerance.
“[Trump] Harvard wants to apologize, and Harvard should apologize,” Levitt said.
Watch: The White House says Harvard should apologise to Jewish students
The drastic changes requested by the White House transformed Harvard’s operations and handed over a large amount of control to the government.
A letter to Harvard on Friday, obtained by the New York Times, said the university was unable to meet “intellectual and civil rights conditions” that justify federal investment.
The letter includes 10 categories for proposed changes.
Each faculty that reports students “hostile” American values is “point-diverse” and employs audit programs or departments with parties approved by external governments to burn stolen goods.
President Trump accused major universities of failing to protect Jewish students when university campuses across the country saw the war in Gaza and protests against the US support of Israel last year.
The letter orders the university to take disciplinary action for “violation” during the protest.
In explaining his rejection of these requests, Harvard President Alan Gerber said that the university would not waive or waive its independence of its constitutional rights under Article 1, which protects freedom of speech.
“While some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at fighting anti-Semitism, the majority represent direct government regulations of Harvard’s “intellectual conditions,” he said.
Shortly after the letter of resistance was sent, the education department said it had frozen $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in Harvard contracts.
“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the mindset of endemic and troublesome qualifications at the most prestigious universities and universities in our country,” the Ministry of Education said in a statement.
He said the learning confusion that plagues campus is unacceptable and the harassment of Jewish students is unbearable.
David Armitage, a professor of history at Harvard University, told the BBC that the school could afford to resist as the wealthiest university in the United States, and the price was too high to pay freely.
“It’s an unexpected act of completely unfounded revenge by the Trump administration, which wants nothing but silences freedom of speech,” he said.
In March, the Trump administration said it was reviewing approximately $256 million in federal contracts and grants at Harvard University, and $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments.
Rep. Ellis Stefanik, a Republican from New York, said in X:
A Harvard professor filed a lawsuit in response, claiming that the government is illegally attacking freedom of speech and academic freedom.
Harvard is one of many elite universities across the new presidency.
Columbia University in New York City agreed to many requests last month after the White House subtracted $400 million in federal funding.
However, on Monday, Colombia struck a less adaptable tone, releasing its own letter stating that it is continuing “going sincere consultations” with the government as it said it would try to regain its funds but “reject a deal that requires us to unlock our independence.”
The Gallup vote last summer suggested that confidence in higher education has declined over time among Americans of all political backgrounds, driven in part by a growing belief that universities promote political agendas. The decline was particularly steep among Republicans.
Watch: Mohsen Mahadawi, a Colombian student, has been arrested by ice
