Cambridge protests against Trump administration’s demands

Local News

The Cambridge City Council organized the rally in response to a list of demands issued to Harvard University by the Trump administration.

Residents, elected officials, and members of the Harvard community gathered on the Cambridge Common Saturday in a rally calling on Harvard University to push back against the Trump administration’s threats that it will withhold funding if the university doesn’t follow its list of demands.

The Cambridge City Council organized the rally, dubbed “Stand Up, Harvard! Rally to Stop the Domino Effect,” in an unusual move Cambridge City Councilor Patty Nolan described at the event as “unprecedented.”

“That is because we are living in unprecedented, unusual times,” she said at the rally, according to The Boston Globe. “The parallels with how autocrats historically gain power are not lost on us…History teaches us that appeasement does not work.” 

In a letter sent to the university April 3, the Trump administration outlined a list of demands it must meet to avoid losing nearly $9 billion in federal funding. The list includes demands for the university to review and report disciplinary actions for what it called “antisemitic rule violations” since Oct. 7, 2023, shutter its DEI programs, and cooperate with law enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

“They give us a list of demands,” Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons said at the rally. “We have some demands, too. Back off.”

The rally, which included speeches and calls to action by councilors and Harvard students, is the latest in a series of responses to the demands. 

The Cambridge City Council sought signatures for a petition organized with Harvard’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the UAW, and 50501. It passed a resolution that described the Trump administration’s actions as “outside the bounds of democratic norms and established legal frameworks,” and urged the university to “use all measures possible,” including funds from its $53.2 billion endowment, to “safeguard academic independence, the rule of law, and democracy.” City councilors also joined over 600 Harvard faculty members in signing a letter calling for Harvard to stand up to the administration.

“We must form an invincible wall that even the Trump-Musk administration cannot penetrate,” said Cambridge Vice Mayor Marc McGovern at the rally. “We must remember that we are stronger together, we are better together, and we will be successful together.”