April 16 (UPI) — The Department of Homeland Security canceled two grants to Harvard University worth more than $2.7 million and threatened to revoke its ability to enroll international students on Wednesday, as the Trump administration continues to retaliate against the private institute for rejecting demands that would have affected its autonomy and independence.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the grant cuts and the threat to Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification in a statement Tuesday, calling the school “unfit to be entrusted with taxpayer dollars.”
In a letter to Harvard signed by Noem and seen by The Harvard Crimson, the DHS accused the university of creating a “hostile learning environment” for Jewish students.
It called on the university to hand over information about student visa holders, including those who pose “known threats” to other students and staff, obstruct the learning environment and any disciplinary actions “taken as a result of making threats to other students or populations or participating in protests.”
“It is a privilege to have foreign students attend Harvard University, not a guarantee,” the letter states.
The letter comes as the Trump administration has revoked the student visas of hundreds of international students and arrested a few over their involvement in pro-Palestinian protests or comments.
At least 12 current Harvard students and recent grads have had their visas revoked, the university said.
The most valuable of the two grants cut was a $1.9 million Blue Campaign Program Evaluation and Violence Advisement grant that The Crimson said supported mass violence and human trafficking prevention efforts research. The DHS said the money “funded Harvard’s public health propaganda.”
The second, Implementation Science for Targeted Violence Prevention grant funded what the DHS called “a shockingly skewed study” that “branded conservatives as far-right dissidents.”
“Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism — driven by its spineless leadership — fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security,” Noem said. “With anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology poisoning its campus and classrooms, Harvard’s position as a top institution of higher learning is a distant memory.
“America demands more from universities entrusted with taxpayer dollars,” she said.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration froze more than $2.2 billion in grants for Harvard after it rejected government demands it said exceeded “its lawful authority and infringe on both the University’s independence and its constitutional rights.”
President Alan Garber said they are committed to fighting antisemitism and other forms of bigotry and have and will continue to implement changes to that end.
The demands from the federal government, according to the letter the Department of Education sent to Harvard, include the sharing of all hiring and admissions and related data to the government, which will subject it to a comprehensive audit. Among other demands, the government called on Harvard to commission an external party to audit the student body, faculty, staff and leadership for “viewpoint diversity.”
“The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Garber wrote in a letter to the Harvard community.
“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
Trump has similarly targeted other universities, some of which have decided to stand up to his administration and others that have agreed to its demands.