Stanford supports Harvard's rejection of Trump administration DEI demands

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford says it supports Harvard after the university announced that it will not eliminate its DEI initiatives. Stanford officials stopped short of saying how they plan to respond to demands to eliminate DEI by the Trump administration.

The Trump administration says it’s freezing $2.2 billion in federal funding for Harvard. Despite this, Stanford says Harvard’s stance is about liberty and that’s worth defending.  

"I know there’s a lot of fear that money will be taken away," said Riya Aghi, a first-year Stanford student. 

Aghi says she supports Stanford’s leadership, who announced support for Harvard’s decision not to eliminate its DEI initiatives. As a pre-law student, she says she’s concerned that the courses she thinks are vital to her future in law will no longer be offered.  

"It’s really hard to hear your professors say the class I’m teaching right now may not be taught, when it’s about race and politics and things that really do matter," said Aghi. 

The backstory:

Late last week, the Trump administration sent a letter laying out demands for Harvard that included creating merit-based hiring and admissions policies as well as removing its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or DEI policies. The Administration said nearly $9 billion is at stake if Harvard doesn’t comply.

"The Trump administration has been saying, no. These universities are full of antisemitism and racism. They’re problematic and they’re woke. We have to push back against those universities, and we have to change what they’re doing," said Melissa Michelson, Menlo College political science professor. 

What they're saying:

In response, Harvard President and Stanford graduate Alan Garber released this letter on Monday, rejecting the demands. Though Stanford hasn’t said how it will respond to those same demands, Stanford released this statement saying:

"America’s universities are a source of great national strength, creating knowledge and driving innovation and economic growth. This strength has been built on government investment but not government control. The Supreme Court recognized this years ago when it articulated the essential freedoms of universities under the First Amendment as the ability to determine who gets to teach, what is taught, how it is taught, and who is admitted to study.

Universities need to address legitimate criticisms with humility and openness. But the way to bring about constructive change is not by destroying the nation’s capacity for scientific research, or through the government taking command of a private institution. Harvard’s objections to the letter it received are rooted in the American tradition of liberty, a tradition essential to our country’s universities, and worth defending."  – Pres. Jonathan Levin & Provost Jenny Martinez, Stanford

"What’s going to happen with Harvard? Is this going to turn out well for them or not? So, they (Stanford) can’t be too enthusiastically supportive just in case that turns out to be the wrong direction," said Michelson.   

Federal funding was also frozen for other schools, including Brown, Princeton and Cornell.  

KTVU reached out to Stanford for comment but didn’t hear back in time for this report.