Harvard University has rejected a list of sweeping demands sent by the White House that asked the university to change many of its policies or risk losing billions of dollars in federal funding."The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,

The president of Harvard bluntly rejected the Trump administration’s demands for sweeping reforms Monday even though it places up to $9 billion of its funding at risk.It is the first major academic institution to thumb its nose at the White House’s request for concessions.

Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a public letter on Monday that Harvard had received demands from the federal Department of Education that threaten "our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit,