The Trump administration on Thursday accused Harvard University of failing to report large foreign donations to the federal government as required by law, part of a widening effort to target the institution after it refused to comply with President Trump’s demands.
In a letter to Alan M. Garber, the university’s president, the Education Department told Harvard to provide names of foreign donors and all records of communication with them from the beginning of 2020.
The department also asked for a swath of records pertaining to foreigners who had spent time at Harvard, including any students Harvard had expelled or those who had their credentials canceled, going back to 2016. The request included details on visiting researchers, scholars, students and faculty from other countries beginning from 2010, along with their last known addresses.
Jason Newton, a Harvard spokesman, disputed the notion that the university had not been complying with laws requiring them to file reports disclosing foreign donations of more than $250,000.
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“Harvard has filed Section 117 reports for decades as part of its ongoing compliance with the law,” he said in a statement.
The records request is the latest instance of the Trump administration’s efforts to pressure Harvard into submission as it cracks down on a number of institutions of higher learning over diversity and equity initiatives and what it called a failure to address antisemitism on campuses.
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