Campus Watch May 22, 2025

Trump Admin Announces Another $450 Million Cut from Harvard

The Trump administration’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism announced on May 13 that it will be cutting another $450 million from Harvard University continually failing “to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus.”

“Recent reporting has exposed the Harvard Law Review’s (HLR) pattern of endemic race discrimination when evaluating articles for inclusion in its journal,” the Task Force’s statement read. “Even more troubling, the HLR awarded a $65,000 fellowship–meant to ‘serve the public interest’—to a protester who faced criminal charges for assaulting a Jewish student on campus. The decision was reviewed and approved by a faculty committee, demonstrating just how radical Harvard has become.”

Consequently, “eight federal agencies across the government are announcing the termination of approximately $450 million in grants to Harvard, which is in addition to the $2.2 billion that was terminated last week.”

NYU Withholds Diploma from Commencement Speaker Who Denounced the Gaza “Genocide”

New York University (NYU) is withholding the diploma for Logan Rozos, who accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during his May 14 commencement address.

Rozos said during his address that he wanted to acknowledge “the atrocities currently happening in Palestine” and that “the genocide currently occurring is supported politically and militarily by the United States … I condemn this genocide and complicity in this genocide.”

NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement that the university “strongly denounces the choice by a student at the Gallatin School’s graduation today—one of over 20 school graduation ceremonies across our campus—to misuse his role as student speaker to express his personal and one-sided political views.” Beckman accused Rozos of lying “about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules. The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.” He proceeded to apologize “that this moment was stolen by someone who abused a privilege that was conferred upon him.”

Anti-Israel Students, Faculty at Stanford Engage in Hunger Strike

Anti-Israel students and faculty members at Stanford University are engaging in a hunger strike urging the university to divest from companies that conduct business with Israel.

The Stanford Daily reported that the protesters are also demanding that Stanford President Jonathan Levin call on Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen to drop all criminal charges against the 12 anti-Israel protesters who occupied a university building in June 2024 and sign the American Association of Colleges & Universities’ statement criticizing the Trump administration’s “coercive use of public research funding.” Additionally, the protesters are calling for the university to rescind its policies barring encampments and regulating protests on campus. One of the hunger strike participants, student Arwa Faruk, told the Daily: “I think it’s just crazy to walk from day to day to class and know that there’s money in our university being invested into companies that create missiles, that create bombs that are tearing children apart.”

University spokesperson Lusia Rapport told the Daily that the university “does not intend to negotiate in response to their demands” and that it has communicated this to the protesters.

Northwestern Spent $757,000 on Lobbying Amidst Antisemitism Investigations

Northwestern University poured $757,000 into their lobbying efforts this past quarter while facing scrutiny over its handling of antisemitism, according to an investigation by The Washington Free Beacon.

The Free Beacon found that the university’s lobbying expenditures was “almost as much as Columbia and Harvard universities combined” and is “more than five-fold increase compared to the same period in 2024 … that spending level puts it closer to the University of California ($1 million)—one of the largest systems in the country—and the Association of American Medical Colleges ($895,000)—which represents hundreds of medical schools and health systems—than to Harvard ($250,000).” Documents reportedly show that Northwestern’s lobbying efforts were dedicated primarily toward appropriations bills, but also went toward matters involving antisemitism and congressional oversight of education.

The Trump administration froze $790 million in federal funding to the university in April, and the administration’s second investigation into the university over antisemitism is currently underway. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-IL), who chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, sent a letter to Northwestern President Michael Schill on April 28 requesting a transcribed interview on the university’s handling of antisemitism. A couple of students were quoted in the Free Beacon criticizing the university for funneling money into lobbying rather than focusing their efforts on protecting Jewish students.