A top official from the Donald Trump administration told Harvard University that a controversial letter sent to the institution last week was issued without proper authorisation.
The letter, dated April 11 and attributed to the White House's task force on antisemitism, included what Harvard officials saw as a series of highly intrusive demands regarding the university's hiring practices, admissions procedures and academic curriculum, reported The New York Times.
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Believing they had no alternative, the university publicly stated its intention to push back against the administration on April 14.
Then, shortly after the university's announcement, a Donald Trump official contacted Harvard to claim that the letter had been sent in error. The official described the communication as “unauthorised,” The New York Times reported, citing two individuals with knowledge of the matter.
According to three others briefed on the situation, the letter had been sent by Sean Keveney, the acting general counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services. Keveney is also a member of the antisemitism task force. While the contents of the letter were genuine, there appears to have been confusion within the administration over whether it was meant to be sent to Harvard at all, stated The New York Times report.
Some in the White House believed the document had been dispatched prematurely, while others thought it was intended solely for internal circulation among task force members. Sources requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of internal discussions.
The timing of the letter significantly impacted the situation. At the time it arrived, Harvard had been engaged in what it saw as constructive dialogue with the task force over a two-week period. The university believed there was still room to avoid a public dispute with the US President. But the severity of the demands outlined in the letter led Harvard to conclude that reconciliation was unlikely.
As The New York Times noted, this incident set off “a tectonic battle between one of the country's most prestigious universities and a US President."
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