So basically Harvard saw this video of Elom Tettey-Tamaklo assaulting a Jewish student and instead of disciplining him they chose to add him to their faculty.

Because nothing says "I've been bought by Qatar" like rewarding hate crimes on campus. pic.twitter.com/FLJEXq9PeB

— The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) December 2, 2025

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More than 100 American colleges and universities are pushing back against President Trump's federal antisemitism task force, setting up a contentious battle over what they describe as "government intervention in higher education." The task force, which has already frozen $4.6 billion in federal funding for institutions failing to address antisemitism on campuses, was established following an unprecedented 3,000% surge in antisemitic incidents nationwide since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.

Campus protests at prominent institutions, including Columbia, NYU, and Harvard, have frequently disrupted academic operations, with Jewish organizations reporting that 83% of Jewish students have experienced or witnessed antisemitism, and nearly half felt the need to conceal their Jewish identity.

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Harvard University has emerged as a focal point in this controversy, with President Alan Garber arguing that the federal directives represent "direct governmental regulation of the intellectual conditions at Harvard." This stance comes amid significant institutional turmoil, including the resignation of Harvard's previous president after her congressional testimony about antisemitism was widely criticized.

The controversy has sparked opposing reactions, with former President Obama backing Harvard's position, while other figures deem the task force a nessecary intervention following a year and a half of chaos on US campuses.

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a federal agency that regulates medical research in the United States, published a memorandum on Monday that conditions research grants on not boycotting Israel and eliminating all DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs.

According to the memorandum, the agency "reserves the right to cancel financial aid and return all funds" if grant recipients do not comply with federal guidelines prohibiting diversity and equality research and "forbidden boycotts."

The memorandum defines a "discriminatory forbidden boycott" as "refusing to engage, severing commercial relations, or restricting commercial relationships specifically with Israeli companies or with companies conducting business in Israel or with Israel, or those authorized, licensed, or incorporated under Israeli law." According to the announcement, "By accepting the grant, recipients confirm that they are not engaged in and will not engage in a discriminatory forbidden boycott during the grant period."

The new policy will apply to "local recipients of new grants, renewals, additions, or continuations" issued from April 21, as stated in the announcement.

The NIH is the world's largest public funder of medical research. It awards approximately 60,000 grants annually to nearly 3,000 universities and hospitals. More than 80% of its annual budget of $48 billion is directed toward these research grants.

The battle against DEI programs, which the Trump administration views as discriminatory, along with the fight against anti-Israeli demonstrations and actions, is also driving the American administration's recent moves against elite universities in the US. Officially, boycotting Israel in American institutions is not widespread, but anti-Israeli student associations and faculty lead petitions and calls to boycott Israel. Some institutions accepted some of these students' demands during the wave of anti-Israeli protests throughout the war.

Harvard University recently decided not to comply with the administration's demands, which could cause the university to lose $9 billion in grants and other financial transfers. The university responded yesterday with a lawsuit against the administration.

In a letter to the Harvard community, university president Alan Garber argued that the administration's recent escalation against the prestigious institution "has serious real-world implications for patients, students, faculty, staff, researchers, and the status of American higher education in the world."

Credit rating agencies have warned that the administration's actions could lead to damage to the financial strength of these institutions, which hold enormous budgets.

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Over 100 presidents of US colleges and universities have signed a joint statement condemning what they describe as the Trump administration's "unprecedented government overreach and political interference" with higher education institutions, The Guardian reports. This represents the strongest indication yet that American educational institutions are forming a unified front against what they view as extraordinary governmental intrusions on their independence.

The statement was published early Tuesday by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), following weeks of mounting pressure from the administration against higher education. The publication highlighted that the joint declaration comes just hours after Harvard University became the first school to file a lawsuit against the government over threats to its funding. Harvard is among several institutions that have recently faced significant funding cuts and demands to surrender substantial institutional autonomy.

The Guardian stated that the signatories represent a diverse range of educational institutions, including large state schools, small liberal arts colleges, and Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and Brown. The university presidents and leaders of several scholarly societies say they are speaking with "one voice" and are calling for "constructive engagement" with the administration.

"We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight," the educational leaders wrote in their statement. "However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses." The statement's signatories observe that these measures against schools are already disrupting academic research, undermining longstanding partnerships between the federal government and universities, and contributing to an atmosphere of repression.

"Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation," the university leaders wrote in their statement.

Harvard's lawsuit was filed after the administration announced it would freeze $2.3 billion in federal funds. Additionally, President Donald Trump threatened to revoke the university's tax-exempt status over claims that Harvard failed to protect Jewish students from pro-Palestinian protests.

Last week, Harvard University issued its strongest rebuke yet of the administration's demands, with President Alan Garber setting up a showdown with the White House by declaring that the university would not "surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights."

While Harvard's lawsuit was the first filed by a university, higher education associations and organizations representing faculty have filed other legal challenges over the funding cuts. Faculty at some universities are organizing to protect one another, with several members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, a consortium of some of the country's largest state universities, signing a resolution to establish a "mutual defence compact."

In addition to its actions against Harvard, the administration has threatened – and in some cases withheld – millions more in funding from Cornell, Northwestern, Brown, Columbia, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania. The publication mentioned that Columbia University has largely accepted the administration's requirements to restore funding, including placing an academic department under outside oversight, and its president did not sign the collective statement.

While some university leaders have criticized the administration in recent weeks and signaled they will not comply with its demands, this statement represents the first time presidents have collectively spoken out on the matter. The joint condemnation followed a meeting of more than 100 university leaders convened by the AAC&U and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences last week to "come together to speak out at this moment of enormity," said Lynn Pasquarella, the president of the AAC&U.

Pasquarella said that there was "widespread agreement" across various academic institutions about the necessity of taking a collective stand. She explained the timing of the response, saying: "Much has been written about this flood-the-zone strategy that's being used in the current attacks on higher education, and it's a strategy designed to overwhelm campus leaders with a constant barrage of directives, executive orders, and policy announcements that make it impossible to respond to everything all at once."

She further elaborated: "Campus leaders have had a lot to deal with over the past few months, and I think that's part of the reason, but it's also the case that they are constrained by boards, by multiple constituencies who are often asking them to do things that are at odds with one another."

Approximately 120 university leaders participated in a second meeting convened by the AAC&U on Monday to discuss potential next steps, including efforts to engage their broader communities and the business world in defending academic freedom. Pasquarella told the publication that the joint statement was just the beginning and was intended "to signal to the public and to affirm to ourselves what's at stake here, what's at risk if this continual infringement on the academy is allowed to continue."

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Amidst a wave of protests by pro-Palestinian students across the US, Jewish students have decided to launch a counterattack against displays of antisemitism.

Liat (not her real name), a doctoral student at Harvard University, was one of the central activists on campus. Together with other students, she entered the anti-Israel lion's den on campus – the protest encampment from which calls against Israel emanated, and where students expressed solidarity with Hamas' terrorist acts.

Jewish and Israeli students infiltrated Harvard's anti-Israel encampment and are singing the Israeli national anthem. pic.twitter.com/axLgmqbmhX

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyDillon) May 2, 2024

"Feeling that the administration was abandoning the Jewish and Israeli students and trying to avoid taking effective action, we decided to take steps ourselves. Our aim was to shake things up, demonstrating that this situation is unacceptable to us and cannot continue in this manner," Liat tells Israel Hayom. "We wanted to convey the message that we do not accept our exclusion from campus and the administration's indifference to what is happening on campus. We entered the hateful encampment area, showed our presence, and made our voices heard."

Upon entering the anti-Israel protest encampment set up within Harvard, the Jewish students began marching with signs bearing pictures of the Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and sang the national anthem "Hatikvah" out loud. "The hostile students stood around us, filming and keeping their distance, but did not make contact or touch us. They did not expect this. Their arrogant smiles were replaced by looks of anger and shock. They were very displeased, to say the least."

Liat added that their protest was coordinated with Harvard's security authorities, who increased security in the area. "We knew that the pro-Palestinian students were keeping an eye on people they identified as not being 'one of them.' We anticipated that they would remember our faces and potentially follow us around campus. It's upsetting, there's always a certain level of apprehension. However, up until now, they haven't been violent. We entered the encampment as a group, which definitely gave us a sense of strength and security."

Carrying pictures of the hostages on campus

Since Oct. 7, Liat and her friends have felt a hostile atmosphere towards pro-Israel and Jewish students. "Ever since the protests started, people wearing keffiyehs appeared everywhere. We received no empathy for our pain, and they systematically tore down posters of the hostages that we had hung up. A week after the Hamas massacre, we decided to stand with pictures of the hostages at central intersections on campus, and we received wonderful reactions, alongside hostile ones that showed a lot of hatred, antisemitism, and ignorance."

According to her, "There are many posters on campus accusing Israel of all sorts of blood libels. There are also events and lectures surrounding this issue. Beyond that, lecturers who deny the events of Oct. 7 have been invited as guest speakers. Ever since the encampment was set, there have been many loud demonstrations disrupting classes, how can one concentrate in class while people are calling to 'globalize the intifada' outside? We're talking about 60 students who set up dozens of tents."

Moreover, she says, many Jewish students no longer feel safe on campus and have even started leaving the premises. "Some of the Jewish students living on campus have asked their parents to rent a hotel room for them, and there are students who, since the massacre, have been hiding their Jewishness." Liat emphasizes that she and her friends will continue to make their voices heard on campus. "We will not allow our haters to do as they please."

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Breaking his silence on the pro-Palestine protest encampment, Interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber issued a university-wide email on Monday morning, threatening "involuntary leave" for demonstrators who persisted in controlling Harvard Yard. 

"I write today with this simple message: The continuation of the encampment presents a significant risk to the educational environment of the University," Garber wrote. "Those who participate in or perpetuate its continuation will be referred for involuntary leave from their Schools. The encampment favors the voices of a few over the rights of many who have experienced disruption in how they learn and work at a critical time of the semester," Garber added. "I call on those participating in the encampment to end the control of Harvard Yard."

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP) – the unrecognized pro-Palestine student group organizing the encampment — wrote in a statement that "Garber's threats represent a significant and unprecedented escalation by the University, and we will respond at our press conference at 5 p.m. today at Johnston Gate, Harvard Yard."

The escalation coincides with the impending end of finals, leaving just over two weeks until Harvard's commencement ceremonies, which are anticipated to host multitudes of Harvard affiliates, families, and esteemed guests.

In his email, Garber cautioned that suspended students would be unable to complete exams, maintain residence in Harvard housing, and "must cease to be present on campus until reinstated." Barring students from campus could pave the way for police intervention to remove protesters from the Yard. However, Garber did not indicate any immediate plans for forcible removal, despite previously setting a "very high bar" for police action. He also did not express any intention to engage in negotiations with HOOP, which had set a deadline of 5 p.m. on Monday.

Garber added he was "troubled by increasing reports" of "intimidation and harassment" by encampment protesters. "When Harvard staff have requested IDs...supporters have at times yelled, tried to encircle them, and interfered with their work," he wrote. "We have received reports that passers-by have been confronted, surveilled, and followed. Such actions are indefensible."

He also warned the encampment could impact commencement, risking alienating support from affiliates like graduating seniors if it disrupts the ceremony attended by 32,000 annually. "The members of the class of 2024 deserve to enjoy this milestone uninterrupted and unimpeded," Garber stated. "It would be especially painful if students...denied a full graduation ceremony for a second time." The statement came hours after Columbia University canceled its main commencement following pro-Palestinian protests and arrests.

For 13 days, Garber had permitted the encampment while disciplinary proceedings against the students were initiated. This approach had enabled Harvard to avoid the backlash that other universities faced over pro-Palestinian protests. Garber's statement suggests that Harvard's strategy is now shifting after nearly two weeks.

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Cornel West, an American philosopher and known support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, announced Tuesday that he was resigning from Harvard University, citing the school's opposition to his support for the Palestinians.

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West posted his "candid letter of resignation" on Twitter, in which he claimed that he was denied extended tenure at the school solely due to his pro-Palestinian views.

This is my candid letter of resignation to my Harvard Dean. I try to tell the unvarnished truth about the decadence in our market-driven universities! Let us bear witness against this spiritual rot! pic.twitter.com/hCLAuNSWDu

— Cornel West (@CornelWest) July 13, 2021

"To witness a faculty enthusiastically support a candidate for tenure then timidly defer to a rejection based on the Harvard administration's hostility to the Palestinian cause was disgusting," he wrote. "We all knew the mendacious reasons given had nothing to do with academic standards ... I knew my academic achievements and student teaching meant far less than their political prejudices."

He accused the school of "decline and decay" and wrote that "disarray of a scattered curriculum, the disenchantment of talented yet deferential faculty, and the disorientation of precious students loom large" at the school.

West concluded his letter by saying that Harvard's "narcissistic academic professionalism cowardly deference to the anti-Palestinian prejudices … constitute an intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of deep depths."

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