16 states join Trump admin in legal push to strip Harvard’s federal funding

16 Republican-led states have filed an amicus brief backing the Trump administration’s legal efforts to withhold federal funding from Harvard University over its handling of anti-Semitism and continued support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.

Filed on June 22, the brief supports the administration’s case that Harvard, despite being the wealthiest university in the world, has failed to address rising anti-Semitic activity on campus and refuses to eliminate DEI practices flagged by multiple federal agencies.

The states joining the effort are Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Texas.

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”There are apparently three constant truths in American life: death, taxes, and Harvard University’s discrimination against Jews,” the letter begins.

”Harvard invokes the First Amendment to distract from its failure to protect Jewish students in violation of Title IV, which the federal government cited as its reason for freezing funding,” the letter reads. ”But the bottom line is that the First Amendment does not allow institutions to violate Title VI. Universities that accept federal funding must live up to their obligations to protect Jewish students, just like they protect students of other nationalities, ethnicities, and religions.”

In April, the Trump administration froze more than $2 billion of that funding after the university declined to dismantle DEI initiatives and allegedly failed to prevent anti-Semitism, particularly amid campus protests related to the war in Gaza.

On April 11, the General Services Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education issued a joint letter calling on Harvard to end DEI programs and address “egregious” incidents of anti-Semitism.

Harvard responded by asserting its institutional autonomy, stating that “the university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”

On June 6, a separate amicus brief filed in support of Harvard came from 18 universities, including Brown University, the California Institute of Technology, and Yale University. 

These institutions argued that the administration’s actions could damage higher education research infrastructure nationwide. They also warned the funding freeze could “disrupt ongoing research, ruin experiments and datasets, destroy the careers of aspiring scientists, and deter long-term investments at universities across the country.”

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Since the legal standoff began, Harvard and its medical school have rebranded their DEI offices. The Harvard College Office of DEI is now the “Office of Community and Campus Life,” while the medical school’s office was renamed “Office for Culture and Community Engagement.”

Campus Reform has contacted Harvard University, the Texas Office of the Attorney General, and The Harvard Crimson for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.