Harvard Won’t Take Stimulus Funds After White House Pressure

WASHINGTON—At least three major universities said they would not accept funds allocated to them under the coronavirus stimulus package after President Trump began pressuring Harvard University over the money, incorrectly suggesting the aid was intended to go to small businesses.

Harvard said Wednesday that it would ask the Department of Education to reallocate the nearly $9 million the institution would have gotten, noting that it had neither applied for the money nor received it. The school had said it would use 100% of those funds as aid to students whose finances have been affected during the pandemic.

“We have previously said that Harvard, like other institutions, will face significant financial challenges due to the pandemic and economic crisis it has caused,” a spokesman said. “We are also concerned however, that the intense focus by politicians and others on Harvard in connection with this program may undermine participation in a relief effort that Congress created and the President signed into law for the purpose of helping students and institutions whose financial challenges in the coming months may be most severe.”

The school asked that “special consideration” be given to struggling institutions in Massachusetts.

Stanford University and Princeton University issued similar statements earlier in the day.

Earlier Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Fox Business Network said he had spoken to the president of Harvard that morning and that the university was considering whether it should keep the money. But he also sought to clarify the president’s comments in a briefing on Tuesday, in which Mr. Trump suggested Harvard was taking money intended to go to small businesses. Mr. Mnuchin noted that Harvard in fact had been allocated money under a different program in the stimulus bill intended to aid higher education institutions.