As Garber Stands Against Trump, Money From Harvard Donors Pours In

After Harvard publicly rejected the Trump administration’s demands, a wave of support — and money — has come rushing in.

In the 24 hours after Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced that he would not comply with the White House, the University received more than 3,800 online donations totaling more than $1 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The surge — more than 40 times Harvard’s average daily intake in April — was a striking show of support for Garber’s forceful stance, drawing praise from alumni, faculty, and even some non-Harvard affiliates.

And it comes at a pivotal moment as Harvard stares down a $2.2 billion cut in federal funding and continues to recover from a $151 million drop in donations last year.

To some longtime givers, Garber’s stand was a sign that Harvard is beginning to reclaim the conviction — and fighting spirit — they feared it had lost.

Peter L. Malkin ’55, the namesake of the Malkin Athletic Center, said he upped his donation to back Harvard in what he saw as a critical moment of trial.

“It’s a time of special need, and I have faith in the current leadership,” he said. “I'm not talking about the Corporation — I’m talking about the president and the provost.

Michael T. Kerr ’81 — the former co-chair of the Harvard College Fund Executive Committee — said the outpouring of support from alumni signaled it was a “critical point in time” for fundraising efforts.

“We’re back on track, and at long last we can reconnect and start to make the lockdown commitments,” he said.

Following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, some of Harvard’s biggest donors paused their donations in high-profile statements, citing what they called an institutional failure to address campus antisemitism.

Within two weeks of Oct. 7, the Wexner Foundation ended its programmatic and financial partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School, condemning Harvard’s response to Hamas’ attack as “dismal.”

Hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin ’89 — who previously donated $300 million to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences — announced in January 2024 that he would pause donations to Harvard over its handling of antisemitism on campus.

So far, none of the high-profile donors who fled Harvard last year have indicated that they plan to resume their donations in light of Garber’s stand. But the reaction to Monday’s announcement indicates that the tide of donor opinion may have turned.

Harvard administrators have wasted no time in turning the support into an opportunity to woo donors and alumni who have become disillusioned with Harvard’s handling of campus protests and antisemitism.

Just three hours after Garber indicated he would defy the White House’s demands on Monday, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra wrote to top Harvard College donors seeking their support.

“This is a critical time for Harvard, specifically, and for higher education, more generally,” she wrote in an email obtained by The Crimson.

Hoekstra offered in the email to individually meet with members of the Harvard College Executive Fund Committee — a group of top donors — “to discuss your perspective on the road forward for the FAS.”

Faculty have also encouraged alumni to give to Harvard as it braces for an escalating faceoff with Washington.

University Professor emeritus Laurence H. Tribe said that he has seen overwhelming support from alumni to up their donations to Harvard in the wake of the $2.2 billion federal funding cut.

“I'm getting a huge, huge response from people, not only alumni and not only former students of mine — of whom there are thousands — but also from people who never had a thought about Harvard that was positive in their lives,” he said.

Tribe added that several faculty members have also indicated to Harvard administrators that they were willing to take a cut in their salaries provided that the saved funds would be used to support research whose federal funding hangs in limbo.

“There are also a number of professors who are considering the possibility of voluntarily accepting a reduction in a salary on the understanding that if the amount that they decide to forego is contributed to research programs that are under pressure as a result of federal cutbacks,” he said.

A University spokesperson declined to comment on whether the faculty proposal had been offered or been accepted.

Harvard Business School graduate Mark E. Pelofsky ’84 said that he had been dismayed by Garber’s initial response to the Trump administration’s demands, but chose to up his donation following Monday’s stand.

“Everyone is supportive, and many people I know have given donations, many of whom like me have not been recent donors,” he said.

Pelofsky, like Malkin, said that they had donated to a University-wide unrestricted fund managed by the Office of the President to give Harvard administrators as much bandwidth as possible to invest as they see fit.

“We’re mostly symbolically giving him money that he can use at his discretion, perhaps, to offset some of the cuts that might be coming from the federal government,” he said.

But Kerr warned that while the alumni support was notable, it alone could not match the magnitude of the $2.2 billion cut to the University’s multi-year commitments.

“The reality is, the annual giving, even if we do a tremendous job, it can’t offset — it can help, but it can’t offset —the scale that the federal government is talking about,” he said.

Harvard Alumni Association spokesperson Cameron Wolfsen wrote in a statement that “we are deeply appreciative of our alumni whose support is vital and enables the university to have a lasting impact in areas of teaching, learning, research and innovation.”

The tidal wave of support Harvard has already seen, however, may only be the beginning of a monthslong donation surge for the University.

Charles H. Grice — a member of the Dean’s Council at the Harvard Kennedy School — wrote in a statement that continued giving was pivotal as the University takes on the White House.

“I have never been more proud or more worried for my University than the challenges and opportunities of this moment,” he wrote.

Eve J. Higginbotham — a former member of the Harvard Board of Overseers, the University’s second-highest governing body — said that while she has not increased her gifts yet, Garber’s response had inspired her to up her givings in the future.

“I’m just very proud as an alum, and I think this is the right decision and the right path,” Higginbotham said. “I believe that Harvard will lead others along with them in this path.”

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

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