Harvard University announced Monday that it is implementing a hiring freeze as the Trump administration threatens to withhold federal funding over the Ivy League school’s response to anti-Semitic protests on campus.
“Effective immediately, Harvard will implement a temporary pause on staff and faculty hiring across the University,” school leaders wrote in an internal message, citing “substantial financial uncertainties driven by rapidly shifting federal policies.”
The hiring pause comes as the Trump administration scrutinizes 10 universities, including Harvard, over their handling of anti-Semitic campus protests, which have spiked since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The administration’s anti-Semitism task force on Friday canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University for failing to curb anti-Semitic incidents.
Harvard leaders said the hiring freeze “is meant to preserve our financial flexibility” as they navigate the Trump administration’s policies.
The university is also instructing administrative leaders to “scrutinize discretionary and non-salary spending, reassess the scope and timing of capital renewal projects, and conduct a rigorous review of any new multi-year commitments,” according to the Monday message.
Harvard and Columbia have drawn significant backlash from lawmakers and donors over their repeated failures to address rising anti-Semitism on campus. The public outrage led to the resignations of both Harvard president Claudine Gay and Columbia president Minouche Shafik.
