Harvard President Cancels India Trip Amid Trump’s Pressure On Universities

India-West News Desk

BOSTON, MA – Harvard President Alan M. Garber abruptly canceled his planned spring break visit to India as universities across the U.S. braced for potential fallout from the Trump administration’s escalating scrutiny of higher education funding.

The trip, which had been scheduled more than a month in advance, included stops in Mumbai and New Delhi, where Garber was set to meet with alumni and donors—continuing a long-standing tradition of Harvard presidents making international visits during spring break. Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton did not provide a reason for the cancellation but told The Crimson that the trip would be rescheduled.

Garber’s visit was expected to be Harvard’s first formal presidential trip to India since 2006, when then-President Lawrence H. Summers toured South Asia and pledged to expand academic partnerships with Indian universities.

Before the cancellation, Garber had hosted a private lunch with Harvard affiliates to discuss the trip’s objectives, including potential collaborations with institutions like St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, The Crimson reported.

Garber’s decision came just days after the Trump administration sent a strongly worded letter to Columbia University, demanding that it alter its disciplinary procedures and place its Middle Eastern studies department under federal oversight. The administration threatened to withhold $400 million in government grants unless Columbia complied—a move that sent shockwaves through academia.

The Crimson reported that Garber’s scheduled speaking engagements at the Harvard Club of Mumbai on March 17 and the Harvard Club of New Delhi on March 20 went ahead as networking events in his absence.