Harvard University President Alan Garber has admitted that a lack of conservatives and fear of voicing “unpopular” opinions on campus are problems the Ivy League needs to address.
Garber addressed the issue in a wide-ranging interview with NPR on Tuesday when asked about the Trump administration’s decision to freeze billions in federal grants due, in part, to antisemitism on campus.
“In my view, the federal government is saying that we need to address antisemitism in particular, but it has raised other issues, and it includes claims that we lack viewpoint diversity,” Garber said.
“The administration and others have said conservatives are too few on campus and their views are not welcome,” Harvard President Alan Garber said. NPR
People protest at a Harvard Students for Freedom rally in support of international students at Harvard University on May 27, 2025. AFP via Getty ImagesHe went on to say the elite school has been “very clear” of late that they do believe they have issues — particularly surrounding free speech.
“We think it’s a real problem if — particularly a research university’s — students don’t feel free to speak their minds, when faculty feel that they have to think twice before they talk about the subjects that they’re teaching. That’s a real problem that we need to address,” he said.
“And it’s particularly concerning when people have views that they think are unpopular. And the administration and others have said conservatives are too few on campus and their views are not welcome. In so far as that’s true, that’s a problem we really need to address.”
Asked if it was true, Garber responded: “I think that we have heard from some people that they do feel that way.”
Still, the Ivy League prez went on to describe Trump’s ongoing war on Harvard as “perplexing” amid a flurry of funding freezes and threats.
“In my view, the federal government is saying that we need to address antisemitism in particular, but it has raised other issues, and it includes claims that we lack viewpoint diversity,” President Garber during the interview. APIt comes after Trump on Monday said he was considering pulling $3 billion in federal grants away from the “very antisemitic” university to instead invest in trade schools across the country.
Then, it emerged on Tuesday that the White House was planning to cancel all remaining federal contracts with the elite school.
The Trump admin has already frozen roughly $3.2 billion in grants and contracts in recent weeks — arguing the school has failed to crack down on antisemitism and engages in alleged “race discrimination” in its admission and hiring processes.
Demonstrators rally on Cambridge Common in a protest organized by the City of Cambridge calling on Harvard leadership to resist interference by the federal government, on April 12, 2025. REUTERS“What is perplexing is the measures that they have taken to address these that don’t even hit the same people that they believe are causing the problems,” Garber told NPR.
“Why cut off research funding? Sure, it hurts Harvard, but it hurts the country because after all, the research funding is not a gift. The research funding is given to universities and other research institutions to carry out work — research work — that the federal government designates as high-priority work. It is work that they want done. They are paying to have that work conducted.”
He added: “Shutting off that work does not help the country, even as it punishes Harvard, and it is hard to see the link between that and, say, antisemitism.”
