Harvard: On the 500 Millionth Thought, *Maybe* We’ll Settle

The EU learned a hard lesson this week about negotiating with Donald Trump: Settle quickly. The UK figured that out nearly immediately and got a framework that included 10% tariffs on all British exports to the US, along with some modest commitments for American imports. Nearly three months later, the EU had to agree to 15% tariffs on their exports, along with a $750 billion commitment to purchase American LNG and other market-opening demands. 

Now it’s Harvard’s turn to learn the same lesson. They want to settle with the Trump administration to get access to federal funding restored, but they have discovered that it will cost them a lot more to do so than it did Columbia University:

Harvard University has signaled a willingness to meet the Trump administration’s demand to spend as much as $500 million to end its dispute with the White House as talks between the two sides intensify, four people familiar with the negotiations said.

According to one of the people, Harvard is reluctant to directly pay the federal government, but negotiators are still discussing the exact financial terms.

The sum sought by the government, which recently accused Harvard of civil rights violations, is more than twice as much as the $200 million fine that Columbia University said it would pay when it settled antisemitism claims with the White House last week. Neither Harvard nor the government has publicly detailed potential terms for a settlement and what allegations the money would be intended to resolve.

In truth, both universities proved to be slow learners. Columbia may have had an opportunity for a better deal had they settled this case immediately. Instead, they too dragged it out in hopes that outrage from the progressive-elite establishment in the media and elsewhere in Academia would force Trump to back off. Trump just doubled down and forced Columbia to accept a humiliating — if still profitable — capitulation. 

Harvard turns out to have even slower learners in their administration. Despite this fight being all about Harvard’s anti-Semitic environment and refusal to abide by Titles VI and IX as well as the Supreme Court decision in SFFA, they only want to pay a fine — indirectly! — and go back to business as usual without supervision:

Although the two sides have made progress toward a deal, Harvard is also skeptical of Columbia’s agreement to allow an outside monitor to oversee its sweeping arrangement with the government. Harvard officials have signaled that such a requirement for their own settlement could be a redline as a potential infringement on the university’s academic freedom.

Yeah, good luck with that. Harvard wants access restored to billions of dollars in federal funding, but with no strings attached. Alan Garber et al still haven’t learned that the monitor is the entire point of this exercise, especially after the months-long public fight. Trump doesn’t want Harvard’s money; he doesn’t want Harvard getting our money, not without some mechanism to ensure instant compliance at all times with the Civil Rights Act, especially in eradicating DEI and ending open hostility to Jews in the student body and faculty. 

If Harvard wants independence, they can end this fight today by adopting the Hillsdale College model and ending all claims to federal funds. The Department of Justice explicitly mentioned it in a letter to Garber last month when informing Harvard that they had been formally found in violation of the Civil Rights Act. “Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges,” the letter noted, “and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”

The letter served as more than just an opportunity to tweak Garber, however. A formal finding of violations of the CRA disqualifies Harvard from any federal funding, as I noted at the time. Any settlement of such a finding would require some sort of a monitor, at the very least:

Harvard could fight the finding in court, but since this is a civil finding, the DoJ has a lower evidentiary threshold. The fact that they have not just kept those who assaulted Jews on campus but rewarded them rather than punish or expel them speaks volumes about this finding. So too does Harvard’s apparent continuation of admissions discrimination even after losing a major Supreme Court case two years ago on that very issue. This finding certainly complicated their current lawsuits aimed at restoring some of the canceled subsidies and grants, and a DoJ lawsuit could deliver a body-blow financial judgment if pursued to its end. That’s why the WSJ notes that most schools in this position cut deals that accepts supervision and changes internal policies so as to avoid backbreaking penalties. 

Harvard wants to eat its cake and have it too. They still haven’t learned that the time for that option expired months ago, and each defiance added to the price Harvard will have to pay to get its funding restored. Those prices will be more than just monetary, and the longer it takes the slow learners at Harvard to figure that out, the costlier they will become. 

Or, to put it another way, Garber and Harvard may have to go the full Black Knight before this is over. Arguably, they’re halfway there now anyway.

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