The University will not surrender its independence or its constitutional rights,’ Harvard University's president wrote in a letter.

Columbia University said it was holding "good faith" negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to regain federal funding, hours after Harvard rejected the administration's demands to audit the "viewpoint diversity" of its students and faculty,

The Trump administration earlier this week froze $2.26 billion in federal funding for the school and threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax exempt status.