President Donald Trump announced his plan to take away Harvard University’s tax exempt status in a post shared on his Truth Social account Friday (May 2) morning.
“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump wrote.
The president’s announcement came weeks after his administration froze multiyear federal grants worth $2.2 billion over Harvard University’s refusal to suppress alleged antisemitism stemming from protests of the Israel-Hamas war, as well as its use of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), on its campus. The move is, however, expected to face legal challenges as Harvard University president Alan Garber had publicly stated that taking away its tax-exempt status would be unlawful and endanger “our ability to carry out our educational mission” via ABC News.
“We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement,” Garber said in a statement responding to the Trump administration’s freezing of $2.2 billion in grants last month. “The University will not surrender its independence or its constitutional rights.
“The administration’s prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government. It violates 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. 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.”
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