A White House official admitted that the controversial letter sent to Harvard was unauthorized

The New York Times revealed this Saturday that an official in the administration of president Donald Trump, who chose not to reveal his identity for fear of reprisals, confessed to the media outlet that the letter sent last Friday by the White House to Harvard University, which contained several demands related to combating anti-Semitism on its university campus, should not have been sent because it did not have the corresponding authorization. According to the newspaper, the letter was sent to the prestigious academic institution by the acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, Sean Keveney, who is one of the most important members of the working group on anti-Semitism within the White House.

The letter generated a strong controversy, after Harvard communicated, three days after having received it, that it decided not to abide by what the Trump Administration ordered in its message, thus generating a direct confrontation that cut with the numerous dialogues that both parties were maintaining during the last weeks. The Times explained that, a few hours after the university communicated its decision, the White House official who chose to talk to the media under condition of anonymity communicated directly with the academic institution to clarify that the April 11 missive should not have been sentat any time, after blaming Keveney for having done so without proper authorization.

What did the letter say?

According to what the newspaper reported, the White House letter included numerous demands directly related to the issue of admissions, hiring, and even curricular content. The media outlet detailed that while Harvard is willing to address the numerous anti-Semitism scandals that have arisen within the university campus following the terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas on Israeli soil last October 7, 2023, the demands by the Trump Administration were deemed sufficiently extreme as to be seen as impossible to abide by.

The Timesexplained that, while other members of the White House who chose not to reveal their identities confirmed the authenticity of the letter sent to Harvard, those officials offered different versions of how the administration handled the matter following the university's response. After all, those officials explained, while some members of the White House believed that the letter should only be circulated among various groups within the administration rather than forwarded directly to Harvard, others felt that the letter was sent too prematurely.