No more federal grants for Harvard. Last night, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon dropped the hammer on Harvard. Any future grant applications from Harvard won’t be allowed.

Dear @Harvard: pic.twitter.com/XmMimXfkX0

— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) May 5, 2025

It’s definitely quite the ‘Dear John, it’s not me, it’s YOU’ letter! Before I get into the highlights of the letter, it’s important to know that there’s already a review taking place about the NINE BILLION in federal funding Harvard is ALREADY receiving.

President Donald Trump’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is investigating the Ivy League institution to ensure it is “in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities.” The announcement came from the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. General Services Administration.

Under review are $255.6 million in contracts and $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard and its affiliates, the largest sum yet that the task force has targeted.

Furthermore, as we’ve written extensively here, Harvard has been a toxic campus for years when it comes to touting and letting progressive viewpoints rule the roost as it were. That became glaringly evident after Israel was attacked on October 7, 2023. Yet, even today, the Harvard Crimson editorial board insists that it’s not just Jews who feel unsafe on campus, Muslims feel even more unsafe. Also, they insist that EVERYONE’S free speech is being stifled. 

Uh huh, pull the other leg guys. Below are a few highlights from Linda McMahon’s letter to Harvard. 

“Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right,” she wrote. “Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students, Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these ‘students’ come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country – and why is there so much HATE? These are questions that must be answered, among many more, but the biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public?”

Not only that, but she asked (and I’d like the answer as well), why does Harvard have to teach incoming students remedial math? What has Harvard done to ensure students, professors, and even school presidents no longer engage in plagiarism? 

Keep in mind, the grants in question are future grants that Harvard would apply for. In the past, as has become evident, Harvard was literally handed the funds on a silver platter. It seems that practice is now stopped dead in its tracks. 

McMahon also makes the larger point that Harvard has twisted itself into pretzels trying to essentially NOT comply with the Supreme Court ruling that specifically found the university DOES engage in race discrimination. In addition to the plagiarism scandal, it’s evident as Deanna noted here, that Claudine Gay was Harvard’s middle finger to SCOTUS.

It’s also evident that Harvard didn’t learn any lessons from the blowback by major donors such as Bill Ackman. Why else would they choose an virulent anti-Israel commencement speaker? Why else would they give pro-Hamas campus protestors a slap on the wrist?  

Bill Ackman had some interesting points to make regarding the Trump Administration/Harvard battle. 

Bill Ackman @BillAckman discusses President Trump's battle with Harvard.

Bill Ackman: "The wrong thing to do is receive a letter from the Administration and write back saying: we're doing nothing and in fact, we're going to sue you."

"What Harvard should have done is say:… pic.twitter.com/9WrYoHAZgL

— Have_It_Make_Sense (@Pop_Collapse) May 5, 2025

Well worth listening to all of what he has to say. In the meantime, Linda McMahon also pointed out that Harvard’s $53 BILLION (yes, that’s a B) endowment is available for them to use to backfill future grant endeavors. Whether they realize it or not, when Harvard sued the Trump Administration last month, those at the Harvard Crimson engaged in a victory lap. 

NEW: When Harvard said no to the White House, donors said yes — with their wallets.

Within 24 hours of Garber’s Monday message, Harvard pulled in over $1 million from 3,800+ online donations, per a source.

in @thecrimson w/ @graceunkyoon https://t.co/uCainqkaku

— Dhruv Patel (@dhruvtkpatel) April 17, 2025

In other words, Harvard can survive just fine WITHOUT federal funding! 

She’s correct. This is more about civil rights and discrimination than the stifling of free speech. And no, just giving the DEI office a new name is not the solution you think it is. Harvard, of course, is big mad over this latest move. They whine about the Trump Administration illegally withholding funding while trying to take control over the university, and engage in illegal government overreach. 

Do they need some cheese with that whine? 

Larry Summers, former President of Harvard, misses the point. 

“This is about whether the government has the power to coerce private institutions, using all the various authorities it has to advance particular political agendas of the president,” he said. “But for higher education, this is about academic freedom, which for the better part of a century, the Supreme Court recognized as intimately connected to the First Amendment. So in a broad civic sense, it’s about our commitment to constitutional democracy as manifest in the First Amendment.”

Just because you are HAHVAHD, doesn’t mean money should be handed to you with no questions asked. Yet it’s evident that has been the case for decades now. Audits of how the funds are being utilized should be a requirement, not an exception. And whether a university receives federal grants or not has exactly NOTHING to do with the First Amendment.  

Harvard has long treated the U.S. government taxpayers as their personal piggy bank, as have far to many other universities across the country. They viewed this as their unearned right. It isn’t. It’s a privilege. 

One they will have to earn back. 

Feature Photo Credit: Grok/X/Cropped/Public Domain