New Delhi: In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration is poised to completely sever its longstanding financial relationship with Harvard University, preparing to cancel all remaining federal contracts estimated at 100 million dollars.
This drastic step follows an earlier freeze of 3.2 billion dollars in grants and contracts and is seen as the administration’s most aggressive attempt yet to undermine the prestigious institution’s financial stability and global standing.
A letter dispatched to federal agencies explicitly instructs them to “find alternative vendors” for all future services previously provided by Harvard, signalling a definitive end to their business relationship. Agencies have been given a deadline of June 6th to submit lists of all contract cancellations, The New York Times (NYT) reported.
This latest escalation comes hot on the heels of the administration’s efforts to bar Harvard University from enrolling international students. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent a letter to the university, linking this restriction to an ongoing Department of Homeland Security investigation.
According to the NYT report, the letter stated that Harvard had a mere 72 hours to provide “information required” if it wished to regain its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification before the upcoming academic year.
“Going forward, we also encourage your agency to seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered Harvard,” the letter said.
Harvard has vehemently condemned these actions. In a statement last week, Dr Garber decried the move as “unlawful and unwarranted,” warning that it “imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.”
Adding to the controversy, former US President Donald Trump publicly addressed the issue on social media, demanding “Foreign Student Lists from Harvard. He said, “We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalised lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country. Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!”
