Harvard research programs brace for "stop work orders" after $2.2B funding freeze
Research programs at Harvard University have been warned to brace for "stop work orders" as the slow drip from the Trump administration's $2.2 billion federal funding freeze continues to roll out.
On Monday, Harvard became the first university to push back against President Trump's list of demands following a federal investigation into their handling of alleged antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests last year. Roughly 60 universities nationwide are being investigated. Some for the same allegations and others for what the White House called the "promotion of Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs."
Trump threatened to pull federal funding from universities that did not comply. Within hours of a letter from Harvard's president on Monday, Trump started freezing funds to the university's research program. By Tuesday, Trump questioned their tax-exempt status.
"Disaster for research community"
"If that were to be withdrawn as funds it would be a disaster for the research community," said Harvard professor and former dean of the Harvard Medical School, Jeffrey Flier.
"That is the major source of the funding for the research carried out by thousands of scientists in these institutions. I would say many of the details of what is happening are not well understood or clear. Even to many of the participants."
Professors described anxiety and confusion over the lack of clarity around what programs would be impacted.
Groundbreaking tuberculosis research stopped
Harvard confirmed Dr. Sarah Fortune was one of the first to get a stop work order. Fortune's groundbreaking tuberculosis research had been funded by a $60 million NIH contract and involved collaborative work with multiple universities across the U.S., according to Harvard.
Harvard Law professor Andrew Crespo said, "You can't have a successful research university if it is only allowed to study certain questions that are asked by the government and if it is only allowed to give certain answers that the president does or doesn't like based on the politics of the day."
Trump Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested Harvard had the money to make the adjustment for itself. "More than $2 billion out the door to Harvard when they have a more than $50 billion endowment. Why are the American taxpayers subsidizing a university that has billions of dollars in the bank already," said Levitt in a briefing on Tuesday. "We certainly shouldn't be subsidizing a place where such grave antisemitism exists."
Harvard's $53 billion endowment
It is true that Harvard is the wealthiest university in the world with a $53.2 billion endowment. But it's not a checking account. According to Harvard, the roughly 400-year-old endowment consists of 14,600 individual accounts. Most of those have tight restrictions on how the money can be used. The university also reported $6.4 billion in operating expenses in the 2024 fiscal year.
On Tuesday, Governor Maura Healey blasted the Trump administration's actions and said he had, "Rolled out the welcome mat for China and other countries to take over our competitive edge."
The president and CEO of Mass General Brigham wrote a candid letter Tuesday that stated it "remains unknown" what the impacts of this federal funding freeze will mean for their close partnership with the university. In her letter, Anne Klibanski wrote, "However, we believe that the government's requests of Harvard University are not applicable to our separately incorporated and independently operated medical and research hospitals."
