Overview

• The General Services Administration instructed all federal agencies to review and cancel or transition roughly $100 million in existing Harvard contracts and report back by June 6.
• The letter cites alleged racial discrimination in Harvard’s admissions policies and a “disturbing lack of concern for the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students” as justification for the cancellations.
• Harvard has filed lawsuits contesting the April funding freeze, the attempt to bar its international students and now the planned contract terminations.
• President Alan Garber warned that cutting off federal research funding will disrupt high-priority projects in areas such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
• Legal analysts say the outcome of these battles could redefine the balance between federal oversight and academic autonomy at U.S. universities.