Former president Barack Obama publicly supported Harvard University on Monday after the school refused to follow a long list of new federal demands sent by Donald Trump’s administration.
Obama posted on X, saying Harvard was doing what other schools should do when federal power overreaches. He said the university’s refusal to accept Trump’s terms set a standard for other institutions.
“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,” Obama said.
Obama made the comment in response to a statement from the Ivy League university that directly accused the government of trying to control the school’s values, its research, and the speech of students and faculty.
Trump’s administration warned Harvard late Friday that it had to accept a federal agreement or risk losing its long-standing financial relationship with the government.
The warning came after weeks of political pressure over how universities have responded to antisemitism. Harvard confirmed in its letter that it had been threatened along with other campuses. But instead of working with them, Trump’s team delivered a new set of demands that the school said crossed a legal line.
Harvard said the demands were not just about addressing antisemitism. Most of them were about forcing the university to hand over control of its internal speech and hiring decisions.
Harvard says federal pressure breaks constitutional limits
The statement was signed by Alan Garber, who is serving as interim president. He said the demands violate the First Amendment, break federal law, and threaten academic independence.
“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,” Garber wrote.
The university warned that caving to these demands would put millions of lives at risk. It said that for over 75 years, Harvard and other universities have received government grants and contracts to support research.
Those partnerships have produced medical treatments and scientific advancements that protect public health and national security. The school listed research on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, artificial intelligence, and quantum engineering as key areas that would be affected if the federal government ended cooperation.
Garber said the administration’s approach was not about constructive solutions. He said the demands amounted to an attempt to set the “intellectual conditions” under which students and professors could think and speak. The government, he added, was trying to control the Harvard community by force, not by law.
The letter said these new terms go beyond the government’s legal authority under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.
Garber said the school is already following that law. He referenced the Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision, which banned the use of race in college admissions. The school said it is complying fully with that ruling.
Garber also said Harvard has not ignored antisemitism. He said the university had already taken multiple steps in the past 15 months to respond to it and had plans to do more.
But he rejected the idea that the government could now dictate how the school functions, who it hires, or how it disciplines people. Garber said the administration was using a real problem as a tool to force a political agenda.
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