Harvard taps $250M from budget to sustain research efforts

ISTANBUL

Harvard President Alan Garber announced Wednesday that the university will use $250 million of its own funds to support research affected by the Trump administration’s freeze of over $2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts.

In a message to the university community, Garber and Harvard Provost John Manning said the school’s leaders will collaborate with researchers to make careful adjustments to their programs in response to the ongoing funding challenges.

“Although we cannot absorb the entire cost of the suspended or canceled federal funds, we will mobilize financial resources to support critical research activity for a transitional period as we continue to work with our researchers to identify alternative funding sources," they added.

The Harvard Crimson reported earlier that Garber will take a voluntary 25% pay cut for the 2026 fiscal year in response to the Trump administration’s funding cuts, according to university spokesman Jonathan Swain.

The Trump administration has threatened to freeze federal funding for many universities, including Harvard, citing campus protests in support of Palestine and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

During the process, the administration established the Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism in partnership with the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and the General Services Administration.

It decided to freeze $2.2 billion in funding and $60 million in contracts for Harvard, and the university filed a lawsuit to block the decision, arguing that the federal government's freeze on funding was unlawful.

The administration froze another $450 million in federal grants and contracts to Harvard on Tuesday, accusing it of failing to take action against antisemitism and discrimination against white people on campus.