The Trump administration has halted over $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts to Harvard University after the Ivy League institution refused to comply with a series of White House demands aimed at combating antisemitism on campus.

The U.S. Department of Education announced the funding freeze shortly after Harvard rejected the administration’s conditions, which included sweeping changes to governance, admissions, and hiring practices. Officials accused the university of fostering an “entitlement mindset” and failing to protect Jewish students amid recent campus protests over the Gaza conflict.

Harvard President Alan Garber stated that while the university takes antisemitism seriously, it would not yield to government overreach. “We will not surrender our independence or constitutional rights,” he wrote in a letter to the Harvard community.

The White House had warned that Harvard must comply to maintain federal funding, but the university refused, calling the demands an attempt to “control” its operations. The administration’s conditions included reporting students deemed “hostile to American values,” ending diversity initiatives, and allowing external audits of departments accused of tolerating antisemitism.

Education officials called the freeze necessary, stating that elite universities must “commit to meaningful change” if they want taxpayer support. Harvard is the first major U.S. university to defy such pressure from the Trump administration.