Harvard University announced a comprehensive freeze on hiring on Monday, March 10, citing “significant financial uncertainty due to sudden changes in federal policies.” This announcement comes just three days after the Trump administration revoked $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began cutting research funding.
In a letter addressed to faculty and staff on Monday morning, Harvard University President Alan Garber, Provost John Manning, Executive Vice President Meredith Weenick, and Chief Financial Officer Ritu Kalra stated, “We need to prepare for various financial situations. Effective immediately, Harvard will suspend faculty and staff recruitment across the entire campus.”
This hiring freeze applies to all Harvard schools and departments. The letter emphasized that this temporary freeze is to “maintain financial flexibility until we have a clearer understanding of the impact of changes in federal policy.”
The Trump administration is pushing for cuts of billions of dollars in research funding and last Friday revoked $400 million in federal grants and contracts from Columbia University, citing the university’s failure to effectively address anti-Semitic incidents on campus. Meanwhile, Harvard University is also under federal investigation to review its handling of campus anti-Semitic activities following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Harvard is one of at least 10 universities currently under review by the federal anti-Semitism task force.
Last week, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also announced a widespread freeze on hiring, citing reasons including cuts in federal research funding and the risk of increased taxation on university endowments.
The Trump administration stated that the fund cut to Columbia University is just the “first round of action,” with more reduction measures to come in the future.
The Trump administration explained that the fund cut to Columbia University was due to the school’s failure to protect Jewish students from harassment, particularly related to protests by students supporting Palestine. In addition, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently arrested a former Columbia University student activist who holds permanent residency (green card) in the United States.
The federal government continues to criticize Harvard’s handling, with Trump himself directly questioning the dispersal of federal funds, asking, “Harvard has a $500 billion endowment, why should we give it money?”