(Reuters) -The Trump administration escalated its feud with Harvard University on Wednesday, saying the Department of Homeland Security planned to issue subpoenas for information about alleged misconduct by foreign students.
The Departments of Education and of Health and Human Services also said in a statement they had notified the school’s accreditor that it had violated federal law by not addressing alleged harassment of Jewish students. That could result in the loss of Harvard’s accreditation, making students ineligible for federal financial assistance.
The Homeland Security Department’s administrative subpoenas are in response to the university denying requests for information regarding its Student Visitor and Exchange Program certification.
“We tried to do things the easy way with Harvard. Now, through their refusal to cooperate, we have to do things the hard way,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the statement.
Harvard University officials were not immediately available for comment.
The administration has said it is trying to force change at Harvard and other top-level universities across the U.S., contending they have become bastions of leftist “woke” thought and antisemitism.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Nate Raymond; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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