The university “should no longer seek GRANTS from the federal government, since none will be provided,” McMahon wrote.
The ban applies to federal research grants and not to federal financial aid that helps students cover college tuition and fees, McMahon’s office said in a press call.
The letter marks a major escalation of Trump’s battle with the university. Harvard filed a lawsuit last month, after the administration froze $2.2 billion in federal research funding to the school.
In her letter, McMahon said “disastrous mismanagement” has driven the nation’s oldest and most prestigious university into chaos, creating a need for massive reform.
“Our universities should be bastions of merit that reward and celebrate excellence and achievement,” McMahon wrote. “They should not be incubators of discrimination that encourage resentment and instill grievance and racism into our wonderful young Americans.”
Harvard issued a statement denouncing the administration’s latest demand.
“Today, we received another letter from the administration doubling down on demands that would impose unprecedented and improper control over Harvard University and would have chilling implications for higher education,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Today’s letter makes new threats to illegally withhold funding for lifesaving research and innovation in retaliation against Harvard for filing its lawsuit on April 21.”
Like other high-profile American universities, Harvard last spring had a pro-Palestinian encampment, with students demanding the university divest investments from any companies involved in the Israel-Gaza war.
After several weeks, the encampment ended after the university negotiated a settlement with protesters.
In the three-page letter, McMahon reiterated the list of the Trump administration’s demands.
Until Harvard abolishes antisemitism and racial preferencing, returns to merit-based admissions and hiring, and puts an end to unlawful programs that promote crude identity stereotypes, the university will no longer be eligible for research grants from the federal government, the letter said.
“Harvard will cease to be a publicly funded institution” and can instead draw from its “colossal endowment” and its large base of wealthy alumni, the letter said.
Garber has previously said the university will not bend to government demands. A university spokesperson reiterated that stance in Monday’s statement.
“Harvard will continue to comply with the law, promote and encourage respect for viewpoint diversity, and combat antisemitism in our community,” the statement said. “Harvard will also continue to defend against illegal government overreach aimed at stifling research and innovation that make Americans safer and more secure.”
The school sued after the federal government froze $2.2 billion in federal funding for refusing to overhaul hiring, teaching, and admissions practices and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Trump since has threatened to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said the university could lose its ability to admit foreign students.
McMahon’s letter took special aim at Penny Pritzker, senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation, and a former Obama official, calling her “a Democrat operative, who is catastrophic and running the institution in a totally chaotic way.”
Billionaire hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, an alum and vocal critic, on Monday called for Pritzker’s removal.
McMahon quoted Ackman, who alleged that Pritzker’s leadership put Harvard in “not a good financial position.”
“If this is true, it is concerning evidence of Harvard’s disastrous mismanagement, indicating an urgent need for massive reform — not continued taxpayer investment,” McMahon’s letter said.
To become eligible for new grants, Harvard would have to enter negotiations with the federal government and prove it has satisfied the administration’s demands.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
