Harvard donations spike after taking stance against Trump demands
Harvard University received a surge in donations after the school's president refused to comply with recent demands from the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, Harvard President Alan Garber sent an email to the school community addressing the government's list of demands . The administration said it would cut nearly $9 billion in Harvard funding and grants if the school did not comply with changes to its leadership structure, admissions, and hiring.
Garber responded, saying that the demands violate Harvard's First Amendment rights and are over "the statutory limits of the government's authority under Title VI."
"... It threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production and dissemination of knowledge," Garbder's letter read. "No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue."
After Garber's letter was sent out, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would freeze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value.
Between the time when Garber Tuesday email and 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Harvard received nearly 4,000 online gifts, totalling $1.14 million, The Harvard Crimson reported on Friday. The Harvard College Fund received 47% of the money, while 14% went to Garber's unrestricted fund. Nearly 80% of the gifts were less than $250.
The day before Garber's letter, Harvard received 37 donations, the Crimson reported. However, since Wednesday, the university has received an average of 88 online donations an hour.
Last year, the school lost a significant amount of donations, including from the Wexner Foundation , which pulled $2 million from Harvard's Kennedy School after what it called a "dismal" response to the war in Israel.
The Crimson added that "while no high-profile donors have indicated that they plan to resume their donations, the surge indicates that small-dollar donors are flocking back to Harvard."
