How Trump wants to assert control at Harvard and elite colleges

President Trump's vision for elite higher education includes eliminating perceived liberal slants, sharpening discipline measures and reconstructing the makeup of student and faculty bodies. Why it matters: The administration's recent demands of Harvard and other elite institutions show the government's playbook to influence and reorient the priorities of universities through federal funds.While the demands revolve around institutional policies, the freezes and cuts largely threaten scientific research.The Trump administration is seeking government input into hiring and admissions practices in an apparent effort to weed out not just antisemitism — the stated objective — but also to push back on progressive ideology.Behind the scenes: A task force of about 20 people, most of whom are not publicly known, has met regularly in D.C. since February to discuss reports of discrimination, review grants and write recommendations, the New York Times reported. The Trump administration said it would freeze Harvard's $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts after the university said it wouldn't comply with demands.The Trump administration's demands of Harvard in a Friday letter included:Governance and leadership reform, including reducing the power held by faculty "more committed to activism than scholarship."Merit-based hiring and admissions reform to remove any sex or race preferences. The government also ordered the university to shutter all diversity, equity and inclusion offices and initiatives. International admissions reform to "prevent admitting students hostile to the American values and institutions in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence." Viewpoint diversity in admissions and hiring with an external audit of the student body, faculty, staff and leadership.Reforming programs accused of biases including antisemitism, which could affect human rights, language and public health departments. What they're saying: "Harvard has in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment," Trump administration officials said in the letter. "But we appreciate your expression of commitment to repairing those failures and welcome your collaboration in restoring the university to its promise." In a Wednesday post on Truth Social, Trump called Harvard faculty "woke, radical left idiots."The other side: Harvard President Alan Garber said the demands surpass the federal government's power and encroach on the university's First Amendment rights. "No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue," he wrote on Monday. Zoom out: The administration laid out nine demands of Columbia as preconditions to formal negotiations on federal funding — several of which were distinct from the demands on Harvard. That list included banning masks, transferring the disciplinary power over students to the university president, and allowing campus law enforcement to arrest "agitators."Flashback: Last year, politicians exerted pressure on universities over pro-Palestinian protests and diversity efforts, pushing administrators to align more with conservative lawmakers. Go deeper: Trump's pressure campaign against universities hits a Harvard-sized snag

President Trump's vision for elite higher education includes eliminating perceived liberal slants, sharpening discipline measures and reconstructing the makeup of student and faculty bodies. Why it matters: The administration's recent demands of Harvard and other elite institutions show the government's playbook to influence and reorient the priorities of universities through federal funds.While the demands revolve around institutional policies, the freezes and cuts largely threaten scientific research.

The Trump administration is seeking government input into hiring and admissions practices in an apparent effort to weed out not just antisemitism — the stated objective — but also to push back on progressive ideology.Behind the scenes: A task force of about 20 people, most of whom are not publicly known, has met regularly in D.C.

since February to discuss reports of discrimination, review grants and write recommendations, the New York Times reported. The Trump administration said it would freeze Harvard's $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts after the university said it wouldn't comply with demands.

The Trump administration's demands of Harvard in a Friday letter included:Governance and leadership reform, including reducing the power held by faculty "more committed to activism than scholarship."Merit-based hiring and admissions reform to remove any sex or race preferences. The government also ordered the university to shutter all diversity, equity and inclusion offices and initiatives.

International admissions reform to "prevent admitting students hostile to the American values and institutions in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

" Viewpoint diversity in admissions and hiring with an external audit of the student body, faculty, staff and leadership.Reforming programs accused of biases including antisemitism, which could affect human rights, language and public health departments. What they're saying: "Harvard has in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment," Trump administration officials said in the letter.

"But we appreciate your expression of commitment to repairing those failures and welcome your collaboration in restoring the university to its promise." In a Wednesday post on Truth Social, Trump called Harvard faculty "woke, radical left idiots."The other side: Harvard President Alan Garber said the demands surpass the federal government's power and encroach on the university's First Amendment rights.

"No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue," he wrote on Monday. Zoom out: The administration laid out nine demands of Columbia as preconditions to formal negotiations on federal funding — several of which were distinct from the demands on Harvard. That list included banning masks, transferring the disciplinary power over students to the university president, and allowing campus law enforcement to arrest "agitators.

"Flashback: Last year, politicians exerted pressure on universities over pro-Palestinian protests and diversity efforts, pushing administrators to align more with conservative lawmakers. Go deeper: Trump's pressure campaign against universities hits a Harvard-sized snag.