Mass. Governor Healey Backs Harvard’s Rejection of Trump’s Demands

Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey ’92 praised Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s demands on Monday.

“I join others around the country in extending congratulations and gratitude to Harvard University, President Garber and the Corporation for their leadership in standing up for education and freedom by standing against the Trump Administration's brazen attempt to bully schools and weaponize the U.S. Department of Justice under the false pretext of civil rights,” Healey wrote in a statement to The Crimson.

Healey has been an outspoken critic of the White House’s funding cuts to universities, condemning the administration’s termination in late March of more than $12 billion in public health grants to states.

She also slammed the Trump administration’s dismantling of the United States Department of Education, calling on Congress to oppose the directive in a March press release.

On Monday, she doubled down on her rebuke of Trump’s education policy.

“We all agree that antisemitism has no place in America and that it should be fought in the workplace, classrooms and everywhere,” Healey said. “Complying with the Trump Administration’s dangerous demands would have made us all less safe and less free.”

—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.