Overview

• Gay delivered the remarks on Sept. 3 at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam, and the institute confirmed her comments after they were first reported on Sept. 19.
• She called the reported $500 million settlement figure arbitrary and unjustified, urging Harvard not to pay as negotiations reported in August have since stalled.
• Harvard remains in a legal and negotiation standoff with the Trump administration over frozen research funds, as officials now seek financial-assurance documentation and HHS has released $46 million following a judge’s ruling against the broader freeze.
• The university has enacted changes that track federal priorities, including rebranding or consolidating diversity offices, shaking up leadership in Middle East programs, suspending ties with a Palestinian college, and removing several related websites.
• Gay also warned that big donors have shifted from stakeholders to de facto shareholders seeking influence, arguing that universities have made themselves vulnerable to such pressure.