‘It’s bigger than Harvard’: University president to talk stakes of Trump admin’s demands on NBC
NBC Nightly News is set to air an exclusive interview with Harvard University President Alan Garber Wednesday night amid the ongoing feud between the university and the Trump administration .
On Monday, Harvard filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston over the Trump administration's freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funding for the university. The funding freeze was instituted in retaliation for Harvard's public rejection of the administration's demands for increased government control, shuttering of diversity initiatives and ramping up of efforts to crack down on antisemitism at the university.
A preview of the interview shows anchor Lester Holt asking Garber whether he views the issue as "bigger than Harvard."
"Of course it's bigger than Harvard, because we look at what's at risk here," the university president answered. "What's at risk is the excellence of higher education in the United States, and in particular the research mission of many of our universities, which plays such a vital role in the U.S. economy and in the health and wellbeing of the American people."
During the interview, Garber admitted that Harvard has had a "real problem" with antisemitism in the wake of the war in Gaza, according to NBC News .
"We are committed to addressing the problems that the federal government has raised, to addressing the criticisms and to ensuring that we are a place where speech can thrive, where learning can thrive, where nobody feels excluded on our campus and where we can fulfill our broad mission to the country," the university president said in the preview.
Garber's interview is set to air at 6:30 p.m. EST.
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