For weeks, the debate over "monitoring" has dominated reporting on a potential Harvard-federal government settlement. But in federal civil rights settlements, the question isn't whether there's monitoring — it's how.
In Office for Civil Rights (OCR) agreements, monitoring is standard. OCR staff typically check compliance by reviewing documents, tracking deadlines, and following up. That's essentially the enforcement model in the government's recent settlement with Brown. But OCR's capacity is strained after losing half its staff to layoffs in July.
Columbia's agreement took a different path: an outside monitor. These are external experts (usually lawyers) appointed to oversee compliance with an agreement after alleged misconduct. They operate independently of both the government and the institution. In other words, a monitor does not manage the institution; their role is focused on oversight and accountability in compliance.
The settlement also included a step-by-step dispute resolution process. Instead of jumping straight from disagreement to litigation — which can cause students and faculty whiplash — the process uses measured, time-bound stages to resolve issues. Critics say third-party monitoring was a drawback, but Columbia may have decided that, between OCR oversight by the Trump administration and a mutually agreed-upon monitor, the latter offered more stability, credibility, and control. In a period of low trust in Columbia, having an impartial third party attest to compliance may even have been considered an asset.
The New York Times reports Harvard aims to structure any agreement with the government "as a legal settlement" to make it harder to change terms later.
Whatever arrangement Harvard reaches will have to address three challenges:
Government trust — convincing federal officials it is fully upholding the settlement.
Public trust — assuring the broader community of transparency and follow-through by both parties.
Stability — creating an effective dispute process that avoids sudden escalations, protecting students (e.g., those with visas) and faculty with federal research grants from disruptive uncertainty.
If Harvard does settle, it will need a monitoring framework that builds trust and stability so it can fulfill its academic mission.
Ask 1636
Each week, we answer a reader question about Harvard and higher education. Send your questions our way!
Q: Was every part of the Brown agreement you covered in last week's newsletter a new change for the university?
1636’s Take: No. In last week's newsletter, we analyzed how the federal government's settlement with Brown differs from its settlement with Columbia. Some 1636 Forum readers who are Brown alumni wrote in to note that certain elements — such as Brown's commitment to host an event celebrating 130 years of Jewish life — were already underway last year, even if the agreement's text doesn't make that clear.
Columbia's settlement, by contrast, codified ongoing changes and added new measures to address Title VI violations and concerns.
Events
Chicago, IL — September 15 from 6-8 p.m. CT: President Alan Garber will join a moderated conversation hosted by the Harvard Club of Chicago and Harvard Alumni Association. Register here.
Virtual — September 16 from 3:20-4:10 p.m. ET: Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker and Dartmouth president Sian Beilock will speak at Chronicle Festival’s roundtable “The Value of Viewpoint Diversity.” Register here.
FYIs
Harvard Potentially Nearing $500 Million Settlement
In the latest development in Harvard's ongoing negotiations with the federal government, the University is reportedly nearing a $500 million settlement to resolve its range of federal investigations and restore its frozen federal research funding.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the proposed agreement would:
Restore the University's $3.2 billion in frozen federal research funding.
Direct Harvard's $500 million payment to workforce and vocational programs, rather than being paid directly to the government (similar to Brown's agreement).
Require compliance with federal regulations around hiring, admissions, and student civil rights, but would not include an outside monitor (unlike with Columbia's agreement).
Debate over whether and how Harvard should settle continues internally and externally. A recent faculty letter — signed by professors including vocal settlement critics and Nobel laureate economist Eric Maskin (AB '72, PhD '76), who has publicly voiced support for a settlement — urged the University to reject any settlement that would cede control over hiring or admissions beyond adhering to “U.S. constitutional laws requiring equal treatment of all applicants and participants.”
Harvard Will Open New Muslim and Hindu Prayer Spaces
Following recommendations from the University's Task Forces on Islamophobia and Antisemitism to overhaul the campus approach to religious life, Harvard will open new Muslim and Hindu prayer spaces this fall: a permanent musallah in Smith Campus Center and a Hindu prayer room in Canaday Hall (an undergraduate dorm) for Harvard Dharma.
Previously, Muslim affiliates gathered at a temporary location on the third floor of Sever Hall (an FAS academic building) and in the room in Canaday, while Harvard Dharma used a smaller room in Canaday.
New Executive Order Centralizes Control Over Federal Grantmaking
President Trump has signed "Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking," an executive order (EO) changing how federal agencies award research funding.
The EO cites the need to strengthen grantmaking oversight and coordination to improve efficacy and specifically:
Requires each U.S. agency to appoint a political official to oversee a new grant review process. In doing so, it shifts authority from career civil servants and experts to appointees who are empowered to advance White House policy goals and assess alignment with "agency priorities or the national interest."
Calls for changes to the Uniform Grant Guidance, including simplified applications and broader "termination for convenience" clauses.
The EO's purpose section references senior researchers at Harvard who "have resigned following accusations of data falsification," potentially alluding to Harvard's recent firing of HBS professor Francesca Gino after a misconduct investigation into her research — which, ironically, was on dishonesty.
Federal Directive Requires Colleges to Disclose Admissions Data on Race, Gender, and Test Scores
President Trump has directed the U.S. Department of Education to collect data on race, gender, test scores, and GPAs for college admits, citing concerns that universities are circumventing the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard, which barred race-based admissions.
In response, Education Secretary Linda McMahon instructed the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to require Title IV-funded institutions to report disaggregated applicant, admittee, and enrollment data via the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
University participation in IPEDS surveys is mandatory for access to federal student aid.
Edward Blum, head of SFFA, applauded the directive while noting that "[c]olleges and universities have a legal right to use a holistic admissions process, as long as that process doesn't involve the use of racial proxies."
Richard Kahlenberg (AB '85, JD '89) of the Progressive Policy Institute, also praised the transparency push, but urged for the collection of socioeconomic data to help distinguish between race-neutral and race-based admissions practices.
Under recent federal settlements, Columbia and Brown were already required to disclose detailed admissions data. The new directive narrows the gap between their obligations and what all Title IV-funded institutions must now report.
Commerce Department Launches Review of Harvard's Patents
The Department of Commerce has launched a comprehensive review of Harvard's compliance with the Bayh-Dole Act, which governs patents from federally funded research.
In a letter to President Alan Garber (AB '76, PhD '82), Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick accused Harvard of legal violations and invoked Bayh-Dole's "march-in" process, which could allow the government to compulsorily license Harvard's patents and take titles to its noncompliant inventions (which has never happened in Bayh-Dole's history).
Lutnick cited three areas of noncompliance: late disclosure of inventions, failure to prefer U.S. manufacturing, and lack of "practical application" for taxpayer-funded research.
By September 5, Harvard must submit a list of all its patents stemming from federal funding and proof of its compliance with the Bayh-Dole Act.
Harvard Corporation chair Penny Pritzker (AB '81) previously served as U.S. Commerce Secretary.
Federal Government Seeks $1 Billion+ Settlement from UCLA
The federal government has proposed a $1 billion+ settlement with UCLA after finding the university in violation of Title VI for failing to address antisemitic harassment on campus.
The proposal follows the Justice Department's formal Notice of Violation to UCLA on July 29, as well as the government's previous suspension of $584 million in its federal research funding.
According to news outlets, under the proposed terms, UCLA would:
Pay $1 billion directly to the federal government
Eliminate "identity-based preferences" in hiring, admissions, and scholarships
Appoint an administrator to report to a federal "resolution monitor"
Conduct a campus climate survey for students "with shared Jewish ancestry"
Contribute an additional $172 million to a claims fund to compensate civil rights victims.
Princeton Expands Financial Aid Package Amid Endowment Tax Pressures
Princeton University will eliminate tuition for most undergraduates from families earning up to $250,000 a year, and fully cover tuition and expenses for those under $150,000.
The move represents a 16% increase in financial aid spending, seen as the University faces budget cuts and potential layoffs.
The Daily Princetonian and Princeton Alumni Weekly speculate the expansion could reduce Princeton's number of tuition-paying students below 3,000 — potentially exempting it from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's new tiered endowment tax, where it is set to be taxed at the highest 8% rate (previously 1.4%) beginning in 2026.
Without the exemption, Princeton's tax bill is projected to rise from $39 million to $223 million annually.
Students File Antitrust Suit Over Early Decision Practices at 32 Elite Colleges
A new federal antitrust lawsuit filed by four students alleges 32 selective colleges use early decision admissions to suppress financial aid competition and inflate tuition prices.
The suit claims the early decision process prevents students from comparing offers, allowing colleges to reduce aid and charge higher rates than they would in a competitive environment (i.e., the regular decision process).
The suit also alleges that the universities mislead applicants into believing their early decision agreements are legally binding when they are not.
Universities named include Brown, UPenn, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Vanderbilt, and UChicago. Harvard is not named (it uses non-binding early action).
The suit seeks to ban early decision practices and secure damages for affected students.
More News
More News at Harvard:
Poets & Quants: "Francesca Gino's Best Case Against The Harvard Business School"
The Crimson: "DHS Says It Will Not Use May 22 Letter To Revoke Harvard's SEVP Certification"
The Crimson: "Trump Admin Asks Judge To Dismiss Harvard's Lawsuit Against Threats to International Students"
The Crimson: "Harvard Spends Record-High $270,000 on Lobbying in Second Quarter of 2025"
The Boston Globe: "Alan Garber's former student now holds the keys to Harvard's future"
The New York Times: "The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump's Fight Against Top Universities" — on May Mailman (JD '15)
The Crimson: "A Divinity School Program Became a Political Liability. In One Semester, Harvard Took It Apart."
The Crimson: "Harvard's Accrediting Agency Proposes Removing DEI Standards, in Line With Trump Order"
Jewish Insider: "Harvard funding Hillel's security costs but not doing the same for Chabad"
The Boston Globe: "Conservatives and free speech advocates wanted colleges to change for decades. Some now say Trump went too far." — ft. University Professor and Council on Academic Freedom co-president Eric Maskin (AB '72, PhD '76)
Slow Boring: "The humanities should be harder" — by Matthew Yglesias (AB '03)
So To Speak: The Free Speech Podcast by FIRE: "FIRE Reacts — Where does Harvard go from here? With Larry Summers" — with University Professor and President Emeritus Larry Summers (PhD '82)
More News Beyond Harvard:
The Duke Chronicle: "Duke School of Medicine plans salary cuts for tenured faculty who do not meet grant expectations"
The Stanford Daily: "Stanford to continue legacy admissions, reinstate standardized test requirements"
The Michigan Daily: "UMich cancels doctoral epidemiology program admissions for 2026"
New York Times: "Fraudulent Scientific Papers Are Rapidly Increasing, Study Finds"
The Tech (MIT): "Rank and File Caucus proposes amendment to MIT Graduate Student Union constitution: The amendment requires a general membership vote for the union's external partisan political collaborations"
The Tech: "The Institute launches Understanding MIT advertising campaign in Washington's metro stations"
The Stanford Daily: "Stanford to lay off over 360 staff following $140 million budget cuts"
Wall Street Journal: "'Hook Up?' College Kids Schedule Literally Everything on Google Calendar"
DOJ: "Justice Department Finds George Washington University Deliberately Indifferent to Antisemitic Discrimination"
The Dartmouth: "Dartmouth to issue over $450 million in bonds for capital projects"
Manhattan Institute: "Changing the Choosers Expanding Opportunity by Diversifying Leadership Selectors" — by University of Maryland regent Andy Smarick
The Eternally Radical Idea: "These free speech sayings are falling out of favor. What does that mean for our culture?" — by FIRE president Greg Lukianoff
The Boston Globe: "Viewpoint diversity isn't a partisan rallying cry — it's a scholarly one" — op-ed by Heterodox Academy president and former Brown professor John Tomasi