Harvard University announced it would do more to target antisemitism after the Trump administration suggested billions in federal funding to the Ivy League institution could be pulled if it didn’t expand efforts to combat “hate.”

The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, alongside the U.S. General Services Administration, revealed Monday that they would review federal funding to Harvard, including $8.7 billion in multiyear grant commitments. The review came as part of President Donald Trump’s joint task force to combat antisemitism, which has led investigations into the country’s leading colleges and universities over concerns they failed to respond sufficiently to antisemitism on campuses. 

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Hours after the Trump administration announced the review, Harvard President Alan Garber released a statement conceding that his institution has not been “perfect” in targeting intolerance. He outlined further steps the university would take to protect Jewish students and warned that “if this funding is stopped, it will halt life-saving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation.”

“Much is at stake here. In longstanding partnership with the federal government, we have launched and nurtured pathbreaking research that has made countless people healthier and safer, more curious and more knowledgeable, improving their lives, their communities, and our world,” Garber wrote. “But we are not perfect. Antisemitism is a critical problem that we must and will continue to address. As an institution and as a community, we acknowledge our shortcomings, pursue needed change, and build stronger bonds that enable all to thrive.”

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Harvard University is one of 10 leading academic institutions, including Columbia University and three top California universities, that the Justice Department is investigating over allegations that the schools “may have failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law.” Columbia University, a hotbed of pro-Palestinian protests viewed by many of the Jewish students on campus as antisemitic, announced a number of policy changes in reaction to the investigation and the Trump administration’s move to revoke $400 million in federal funding.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed over 1,200 civilians, Harvard has also seen pro-Palestinian protests break out calling for Gaza to be freed from Israeli occupation. Pro-Palestinian campus groups have supported the statement “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a controversial statement critics argue calls for the genocide of the Jewish state of Israel. Claudine Gay stepped down as president of Harvard in January 2024, in part over backlash stemming from her response to allegations of antisemitism on campus and her waffling during a congressional hearing over whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s rules on bullying and harassment.

Garber said Harvard has already taken a series of steps in the past 15 months since he took office to improve responses to antisemitism on campus. But the Ivy League center still has “much work to do,” he added, pledging Harvard would “engage” with Trump’s task force to combat antisemitism. 

“The government has informed us that they are considering this action because they are concerned that the University has not fulfilled its obligations to curb and combat antisemitic harassment,” the Harvard president wrote. “We will engage with members of the federal government’s task force to combat antisemitism to ensure that they have a full account of the work we have done and the actions we will take going forward to combat antisemitism. We resolve to take the measures that will move Harvard and its vital mission forward while protecting our community and its academic freedom.”

On Monday, senior official Josh Gruenbaum at the General Services Administration, one of the federal agencies scrutinizing Harvard, agreed that Garber had recently taken actions, “though long overdue,”  to curb “institutionalized anti-Semitism.” 

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But Gruenbaum argued that “there is much more that the university must do to retain the privilege of receiving federal taxpayer’s hard earned dollars.” 

“This administration has proven that we will take swift action to hold institutions accountable if they allow anti-Semitism to fester. We will not hesitate to act if Harvard fails to do so,” Gruenbaum warned in a statement.