Overview

• At a June 3 Senate Appropriations hearing, McMahon defended halting Harvard’s federal contracts to enforce the administration’s diversity policy demands
• McMahon pointed to Title VI as legal grounds for pausing funding and noted that similar action was taken against Columbia University
• The administration’s ultimatum requires Harvard to eliminate DEI programs it says pit groups against each other and to institute government-mandated viewpoint diversity
• Senator Chris Murphy challenged the policy’s legality, calling it contradictory to demand both an end to diversity programs and the imposition of viewpoint diversity
• Harvard has not complied and faces the loss of about $100 million in federal contracts if it does not meet the Education Department’s requirements