United States President Donald Trump’s administration has frozen more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University after the institution said it would defy demands to overhaul its policies and curb activism on campus, reported AP.

The action came hours after Harvard rejected a sweeping list of requirements from the White House ostensibly aimed at combating antisemitism and reforming university governance, admissions and hiring practices.

“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges,” the US Department of Education said in a statement.

The White House had sent an “updated and expanded list of demands” on Friday, warning that Harvard “must comply” to maintain its “financial relationship” with the federal government, Harvard President Alan Garber said in a letter to the university community on Monday.

“We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement,” Garber wrote. “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”

Garber added that Harvard did not “take lightly” its obligation to fight antisemitism, but said many of the government’s demands amounted to overreach. “Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” he said, reported the BBC.

Shortly after his letter, the US Department of Education announced the funding freeze, stating: “The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support.”

The government has said that nearly $9 billion in total grants and contracts are at stake if Harvard does not comply. Among the demands were that the university should report students to federal authorities who are “hostile” to American values, ensure departments are “viewpoint diverse” and allow an external, government-approved party to audit programmes that “fuel antisemitic harassment”.

Other measures included banning face masks on campus, ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and withdrawing recognition from student clubs accused of promoting criminal activity, violence or harassment.

The White House has argued that universities have allowed antisemitism to flourish during protests against Israel’s war on Gaza and US support for it. “Harvard had in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment,” the administration said in a letter on Friday.

Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly targeted elite universities over campus protests, diversity programmes and free speech issues. Harvard is the seventh major institution whose funding has been paused by his administration. Others include Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, Princeton, Cornell and Northwestern.

Columbia was the first to be targeted and later agreed to several government demands after $400 million in federal funding was pulled. Education Secretary Linda McMahon had said then that “universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding”.

Harvard professors have filed a lawsuit against the administration, accusing it of unlawfully attacking academic freedom and free speech. The American Association of University Professors also filed a separate suit last Friday, arguing that the Trump administration failed to follow the required steps under the Civil Rights Act before cutting funds.

“These sweeping yet indeterminate demands are not remedies targeting the causes of any determination of noncompliance with federal law,” the lawsuit said. “Instead, they overtly seek to impose on Harvard University political views and policy preferences advanced by the Trump administration and commit the University to punishing disfavoured speech.”

A group of Harvard alumni also wrote to university leaders urging them to reject the government’s conditions. "Harvard stood up today for the integrity, values, and freedoms that serve as the foundation of higher education,” said Anurima Bhargava, one of the signatories, according to the BBC.

Garber warned that the freeze risks harming public health, research and economic stability. Withholding funding from Harvard “risks not only the health and well-being of millions of individuals but also the economic security and vitality of our nation”, he said.

Over the weekend, the policy move sparked protests from students and Cambridge residents. Separately, several students linked to pro-Palestinian protests, including Mohsen Mahdawi at Columbia and Rumeysa Ozturk at Tufts University, have been detained by immigration authorities in recent weeks.