Republicans' Calls Growing to Defund Harvard

Republicans are calling for Harvard University to be defunded of billions of dollars it receives through tax breaks and federal payments after statements made by its president, Claudine Gay, concerning antisemitic speech on campus while she was being questioned during a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing last week.

"We must defund the rot in America's higher education," Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the committee member questioning Gay during the hearing, told the New York Post. "It is unacceptable and un-American that any taxpayer dollars are going to universities propping up their promulgation of antisemitism by supporting professors, students, and staff, many who have openly called for the genocide of Jews."

She added that House Republicans "will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that schools that protect and encourage antisemitism are cut off from any and all federal funds."

The university is under investigation by the federal Department of Education to determine if it has violated the civil rights of its Jewish students, who come under Title VI protection in the federal Civil Rights Act.

Harvard's highest governing board, the Harvard Corporation, this week said Gay will stay in office and rejected calls for her removal after her congressional testimony, saying that she "is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing," according to NPR.

The calls for Gay to resign or be fired came after her testimony included saying that calls for the genocide of Jewish people did not automatically breach Harvard's code of conduct. She has apologized for her statements.

Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., after Gay was permitted to stay on, told the Post that he plans to introduce a bill making Harvard and other schools face financial consequences if they are shown to foster antisemitism on campuses after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

"The American higher ed system is a racket, forcing taxpayers to first subsidize schools before roping them into paying student loans they didn’t choose to take on," he said in a statement to the Post. "The schools make out like bandits, indoctrinating our youth with hate and delusion, all while taxpayers fund the whole thing. My bill starts to combat this scheme."

Federal government funding to Harvard hit a record $676 million this year in direct payments, along with a $25 million COVID rescue fund payment, according to the school's statement for fiscal year 2023.

Harvard also gets 64% of research funding from federal departments, with the largest amount allocated from the Department of Health and Human Services.

More federal cash comes in through tuition payments from students, with an undisclosed amount of the $1.33 billion in tuition payments coming from federal student loans and Pell grants.

Harvard's tax-exempt status, however, results in its largest source of money, as donations are tax-deductible.

This also allows the school to benefit by not being required to pay taxes on certain transactions, allowing it to build an endowment to total just under $51 billion.

Tax breaks are also in place that allow Harvard's money management to trade bonds, property, and shares without being charged capital gains or corporation taxes, or taxes on dividends and interest payments.

Harvard in 2023 brought in $186 million more than it spent and drew $2.46 billion from its endowment. The endowment tax was just 1.4%, while an individual taxpayer would face a 37% tax.

The 1.4% tax came as a result of tax reforms during former President Donald Trump's administration, with the levy being imposed on endowments in colleges with at least 500 students who pay tuition, and with net assets of at least $500,000 per student.

Harvard has 23,000 students, meaning its endowment comes to $3 million in net assets per student.

Other Republicans who have called for defunding Harvard and other universities over antisemitism include Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.

"Any university or college that peddles blatant antisemitism, especially after Hamas’ brutal attack on Israeli civilians, women, and children, has no place molding the minds of future generations, never mind receiving millions of taxpayer funds to do so," Scott said in October when he introduced legislation to defund universities that "fund or facilitate events that promote violent antisemitism.”

DeSantis, a graduate of Harvard Law School, called on the government to "get smart about how we deal with these universities. We can’t keep funding universities that are creating this type of toxic environment and toxic ideology.”