Harvard University received an email from the Trump administration last Friday with strict demands on hiring, admissions, and curriculum, which was later called “unauthorised” and a “mistake” after it triggered a clash.
The university officials determined that these requirements were too demanding and decided to push back against the White House.
Earlier on Monday, the university went public with its stance, sparking a major clash with the US President. Shortly after, a Trump official made a hurried call to the university.
According to the New York Times, two people familiar with the matter said that the April 11 letter from the White House’s antisemitism task force was “unauthorised” and should not have been transmitted.
While three other people told the outlet that Sean Keveney, the acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services and a member of the antisemitism task force, sent the letter.
The reason for sending the letter last Friday remains unclear.
The three people speaking anonymously due to lack of authority to discuss internal matters, confirmed the letter’s content was genuine.
However, there were varying explanations within the administration regarding its mishandling. Some White House officials believed it was sent too early, whilst others thought it was intended for internal task force circulation rather than Harvard.
The timing proved significant.
Harvard officials were still hopeful about avoiding a confrontation with President Donald Trump when the letter arrived. Despite two weeks of dialogue between Harvard and the task force, the letter’s extreme demands led Harvard to conclude that reaching an agreement would be impossible.
Following Harvard’s public rejection of the demands, the Trump administration intensified pressure by suspending billions in federal funding to the institution and suggesting its tax-exempt status could be at risk.
A senior White House official defended the letter, stating that the university’s public rejection was excessive and criticised Harvard for discontinuing discussions.
“It was malpractice on the side of Harvard’s lawyers not to pick up the phone and call the members of the antisemitism task force who they had been talking to for weeks,” said May Mailman, the White House senior policy strategist, the New York Times reported.
“Instead, Harvard went on a victimhood campaign,” Mailman added.
