The investigation was announced after Trump – furious at Harvard for rejecting oversight of its admissions, hiring practices and political slant – on Wednesday called the storied seat of learning a “joke”.
Harvard is just the latest in a series of top universities and other institutions in the administration’s crosshairs.
But while New York’s Columbia University bowed to less far-ranging demands, Harvard flatly rejected the pressure, saying it would not “negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights.”
Trump said Harvard should lose its government research contracts and tax-exempt status, while administration officials threatened to ban the school from admitting foreigners, who make up more than a quarter of the student roll.
Trump has also targeted Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Pennsylvania and Princeton, threatening each with freezes of between US$175 million and US$1 billion, according to US media.
