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More than 100 Jewish Harvard students signed an open letter condemning the Trump administration’s threat earlier this month to review approximately $9 billion in federal funding to Harvard.
The letter, which began circulating just over a week ago, called the Trump administration’s recent threats to pull funding from universities a misguided response to concerns about antisemitism.
“We are compelled to speak out because these actions are being taken in the name of protecting us — Harvard Jewish students — from antisemitism,” the students wrote. “But this crackdown will not protect us. On the contrary, we know that funding cuts will harm the campus community we are part of and care about deeply.”
The letter was written prior to the Trump administration’s decision on Monday to pause $2.2 billion in funding to the University, three days after University President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced that Harvard will not comply with the Trump administration’s demands.
Maia J. Hoffenberg ’26, who helped draft the letter, said the message was inspired by informal conversations taking place among Jewish students at Harvard.
“We were surprised by how many people we talked to who actually seemed to share in our views that these threatened cuts were not going to be a benefit to Jewish students at the University,” she said. “We thought that it could be really powerful to have a group of Harvard Jews standing together and speaking out against these cuts.”
According to Hoffenberg, the students who signed the letter represent a significant number of students actively engaged in Jewish life on campus, adding that 78 of the signatories were undergraduates. She noted that there are 156 students total in the group chat for Harvard Hillel — a center for Jewish life on campus.
“Not only do we get these 100 signatures, but Jews, and even non Jews, heard about it and are talking about where their stance is in terms of these federal funding cuts,” she said. “It’s sparking discussion, arguments, and causing people to realize that maybe more people agree with them than they previously believed.”
Hoffenberg added that the signatories represented a “broad” and “diverse” group of students from a variety of political viewpoints and denominations.
In statements included with the letter, many students expressed concern about how funding cuts are affecting research and internship opportunities.
“My friends have already lost research opportunities, summer internships, and faith in our administration. These cuts do not benefit us, and we have not asked for them,” Olivia F. Data ’26 wrote.
“Antisemitism is absolutely real and a problem that many people face on our campus, but it will only be made worse by limiting opportunities to learn and engage in healthy discourse,” she added.
In light of the Trump administration’s latest demands to the University — which included an audit of its academic programs and derecognizing pro-Palestine student groups — Hoffenberg reiterated her view that the Trump administration’s actions would not truly address antisemitism on campus.
“They were not about Jewish students, and we think that Jewish students were being used as a cover for a litany of absurd demands,” Hoffenberg said.
Hoffenberg also expressed her support for President Garber’s letter.
“We’re pro-Garber, and we want people to know we’re pro his letter,” she said. “There are a lot of Jews on this campus who have his back.”
—Staff writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at sebastian.connolly@thecrimson.com and on X @SebastianC4784.
—Staff writer Julia A. Karabolli can be reached at julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com.
