Barack Obama has lashed out at President Donald Trump’s administration for punishing Harvard University over the school’s facilitation of anti-Semitism on campus.
Last Friday, the Trump administration told Harvard it had to clean up its act by August 2025.
The college was urged to confront anti-Semitism and its own leftist orthodoxy more aggressively.
Harvard University President Alan Garber responded in a letter.
In the letter, Garber claimed that the administration’s demands violated “Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI.
“And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.”
On Monday, the Department of Education informed Harvard:
“The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable.
“The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable.
“It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support.
“The Joint Task Force to combat anti-Semitism is announcing a freeze on $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60M in multi-year contract value to Harvard University.”
Obama railed against the Trump administration over the move.
However, Obama’s own administration excluded colleges that refused federal funds from its College Scorecard.
In 2015, the Obama administration issued its “College Scorecard,” which offered information about college and university graduation rates and the average salary of graduates.
But schools such as Hillsdale College, Grove City College, and Christendom College, none of which accepted federal funding and thus were not beholden to federal guidelines, were excluded from the list.
Nevertheless, Obama slammed Trump’s “ham-handed” move to penalize Harvard.
In a post on X, Obama complained:
“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 mutual respect.
“Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”
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
In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against Harvard and the University of North Carolina in a lawsuit.
The suit accused Harvard’s admissions process of discriminating against Asian-American applicants.
Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation noted:
The decision “concluded that the race-based admissions policies of both universities violate the Equal Protection Clause because their admissions process unlawfully incorporates an applicant’s race throughout and for many applicants, ‘race is a determinative’ factor.
“The universities also failed to show a connection between the discriminatory means they employ in admissions and their stated goal of diversity.”
READ MORE – Obama Admin Helped Hunter Biden Promote Burisma in Italy
