Harvard University announced a hiring freeze on Monday, citing how “universities throughout the nation face substantial financial uncertainties driven by rapidly shifting federal policies.”
“We need to prepare for a wide range of financial circumstances, and strategic adjustments will take time to identify and implement,” reads a message to colleagues led by Harvard University President Alan Garber. “Consequently, it is imperative to limit significant new long-term commitments that would increase our financial exposure and make further adjustments more disruptive. Effective immediately, Harvard will implement a temporary pause on staff and faculty hiring across the University.”
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The decision comes as millions of dollars in federal research funding hangs in the balance as the Trump administration, through the Department of Government Efficiency, tackles waste and seeks to restore merit in place of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in American institutions.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights last week announced that its enforcement officers would immediately prioritize a “backlog” of complaints filed during the Biden administration alleging antisemitic harassment and violence on U.S. college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in Israel.
Three Trump administration agencies, including the Education Department, immediately canceled approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” A federal task force led by the Trump Justice Department will also conduct a “comprehensive review” of Columbia’s grants, and the Harvard Crimson reported that there is concern similar initiatives could reach the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university’s doorstep as well.
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Monday’s message, also signed by Harvard Provost John Manning, Executive Vice President Meredith Weenick and Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Ritu Kalra, said Harvard’s leadership would work closely in the coming days with Harvard’s schools and administrative units “to help determine how to implement this guidance in extraordinary cases, such as positions essential to fulfilling the terms of gift- or grant-funded projects.”
Garber, Manning, Weenick and Kalra said they “are also asking the leadership of Schools and administrative units to scrutinize discretionary and non-salary spending, reassess the scope and timing of capital renewal projects, and conduct a rigorous review of any new multi-year commitments.”
Harvard’s leadership said the hiring pause is temporary and that they plan to leave it in effect for the current semester but “will revisit that decision as circumstances warrant.”
Their message said the temporary pause “does not supplant broader efforts already under way across our campus to identify structural savings and capacity,” adding that “while we continue to plan for multiple scenarios in both the short and long term, rest assured that Harvard is working hard to advocate for higher education in our nation’s capital and beyond.”
“Expanding access to higher education for all, preserving academic freedom, and supporting our community’s research, teaching, and learning will always be our highest priorities,” the university leadership wrote to their colleagues. “Though current uncertainties touch every corner of the University and of higher education, we are confident that we will be able to address the present challenges together as we continue to pursue academic excellence in service to the nation and the world.”
Cornell University and Stanford University last month announced hiring freezes in anticipation of federal research funding being pulled.
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