Additional Coverage:
- Secretary McMahon wants Harvard to ‘come back to the table’ to negotiate with admin (abcnews.go.com)
Education Secretary Linda McMahon has called on Harvard University to negotiate with the White House amidst an ongoing feud over alleged discrimination and antisemitism on campus. Speaking exclusively to ABC News following a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing, McMahon stated, “I’d love to have Harvard come back to the table to negotiate with us. Their response was a lawsuit, but we will continue talking if they want to talk.”
McMahon acknowledged that Harvard has taken some steps to address the concerns, including clarifying its non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies and expanding educational training on antisemitism. However, she noted that the ongoing lawsuit has stalled negotiations.
During the hearing, McMahon faced extensive questioning about her department’s policies and priorities, including her stance on the Department of Education itself. She defended the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism, suggesting their pressure campaign had prompted positive changes at Harvard.
“I actually think that we spurred them on,” she told Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a Harvard alumna. “When we started putting teeth into what we were doing, they finally said okay, we are going to make some changes and they did that shortly after our investigations.”
The conflict began when the Trump administration’s task force on antisemitism froze over $2 billion in federal funding for Harvard. The university’s refusal to comply with the administration’s demands, citing executive overreach, led to further actions, including halting new research grants, investigating the Harvard Law Review, and attempting to restrict international student enrollment.
McMahon emphasized that antisemitism is a civil rights violation under Title VI and asserted that Jewish students feel unsafe on Harvard’s campus. She reiterated the administration’s commitment to providing a safe environment for all students, stating, “We want to ensure that students who attend these elite universities feel safe on campus when they are there and that there aren’t acts of antisemitism or discrimination of any form.”