GSA

U.S. General Services Administration

May 27, 2025

Dear Agency Senior Procurement Executive:

Re: Review for Termination or Transition of Harvard University Contracts

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is assisting all federal agencies in a review for termination or transition of their federal government contracts with Harvard University and affiliates. This review aligns with the Administration’s directive that all federal contracted services steadfastly uphold and advance agency strategic priorities.
As you know, being a counterparty with the federal government comes with the deep responsibility and commitment to abide by all federal laws and ensure the safeguarding of taxpayer money. As fiduciaries to the taxpayer, the government has a duty to ensure that procurement dollars are directed to vendors and contractors who promote and champion principles of nondiscrimination and the national interest.

As relevant here, GSA understands that Harvard continues to engage in race discrimination, including in its admissions process and in other areas of student life. The statistical evidence of Harvard’s racial discrimination in their admissions – as revealed in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard – is shocking, to say the least. For applicants in the top academic decile, admissions rates varied significantly by race. In this decile, admissions rates were: 56% for African Americans; 31% for Hispanics; 15% for Whites; 13% for Asians. The Supreme Court, in its decision on the case, rebuked Harvard’s long-standing policy and practice of discriminating on the basis of race. Harvard has shown no indication of reforming their admissions process – to the contrary, Harvard now has to offer a remedial math course, which has been described as “middle school math”, for incoming freshmen. These are the direct results of employing discriminatory factors, instead of merit, in admission decisions.

Since then, troubling revelations have come to light regarding Harvard and its affiliates’ potential discriminatory hiring practices and possible violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Harvard is suspected of engaging in a pattern or practice of disparate treatment in hiring, promotion, compensation, and other personnel related actions.

Additionally, discriminatory practices have been exposed at the Harvard Law Review, where internal documents that have been made public detail the pervasive and explicit racial discrimination in the publication’s article selection and editor appointment process.

GSA is also aware of recent events at Harvard University involving anti-Semitic action that suggest the institution has a disturbing lack of concern for the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students. Harvard’s ongoing inaction in the face of repeated and severe harassment and targeting of its students has at times grounded day-to-day campus operations to a halt, deprived Jewish students of learning and research opportunities to which they are entitled, and profoundly alarmed the general public.

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Japanese longer-dated bonds rallied on Tuesday after the government took the rare step of canvassing primary dealers and other market participants for their views on issuance, raising speculation it may scale back supply.

The move by the Japanese finance ministry appeared designed to restore calm to a bond market that has been racked by volatility in recent weeks, with borrowing costs rising to record highs last week.

The yield on the 30-year Japanese government bond, which hit 3.2 per cent last week, fell 0.18 percentage points to 2.85 per cent on Tuesday. The 10-year yield dropped 0.05 percentage points to 1.46 per cent. Yields move inversely to prices.

The questionnaire was sent to a wide range of primary brokers, according to two people familiar with the situation, and sought comments on the current market situation.

They said it appeared designed to confirm that demand for super long-dated bonds was structurally low, as a precursor to a potential government decision to pull back on issuance.

Japanese yields have risen precipitously in recent months. A weak bond auction this month added to fears over low demand for longer-dated sovereign debt.

Although last week’s jump in long-dated bonds came as part of a global sell-off, several factors have added to the selling pressure in Japan. 

The Bank of Japan last year began tapering the massive bond-buying programme it undertook as part of the country’s long battle against deflation. But as the central bank has scaled back purchases, there has not been a strong rise in demand from other traditional buyers, in particular Japanese life insurers.

The “buyers’ strike”, as some traders have described it, became clear last week when an auction of 20-year JGBs was met with the lowest level of demand in a decade. Concerns have also risen about Japan’s gross national debt, which stands at more than 200 per cent of GDP.

Analysts noted, though, that an unusually packed cluster of auctions in long-dated JGBs had also created a short-term supply glut.

MUFG analysts noted that the finance ministry’s decision to send the questionnaire “may well reflect increased concerns over yields following the poor 20-year auction last week and ahead of a 40-year bond auction tomorrow”.

US government bonds also rallied on Tuesday, with the 30-year Treasury yield down 0.06 percentage points to 4.98 per cent.

“The questionnaire looks like it is part of a strategy by the Japanese authorities to prepare the market for a temporary scaling back of super long JGB issuance,” said a person familiar with the questionnaire.

“In other countries you might just get a clear announcement from the government: Japan prefers to generate a consensus, and present itself as acting on the strength of broad-based market opinion,” the person added.

“Markets are taking some relief from the [finance ministry’s] implicit messaging that supply of the super long end could be trimmed,” said Benjamin Shatil, a senior economist at JPMorgan.

“But the sticking point here remains the demand side of the equation. With persistent inflation, tightening domestic liquidity, and a BoJ committed to normalisation, the longer-term outlook remains one of higher Japanese yields.”

The finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today’s top stories

In a video interview with Morning Edition‘s Steve Inskeep, Harvard President Alan Garber said institutions need to double down on their “commitment to the good of the nation” and be firm in what they stand for, which he believes is education and the pursuit of truth. The university sued once when the administration cut off billions of dollars of research grants and contracts. The latest suit came last week when the administration banned Harvard from hosting international students. A judge temporarily blocked the administration’s latest action, allowing foreign students the ability to stay for now.

• 🎧 The Harvard lawsuit and Garber argue that the administration is going after something bigger than international students. Garber says he doesn’t fully know the administration’s motives. However, Garber says he knows some conservatives want to reshape higher education over issues like diversity, equity and inclusion. Garber says he wants to encourage free debate on campus and that having international students helps contribute to the university’s environment.
• ➡️ Here’s a look, by the numbers, at the impact of international students at Harvard and across the U.S., including where most of them come from.

Corporate America is distancing itself from DEI. This move showcases a significant shift from five years ago, when the racial reckoning triggered by George Floyd’s murder sent companies racing to staff up. NPR reports on the extent of job losses in this field.

• 🎧 More than 2,600 jobs in DEI have been eliminated in the last couple of years, NPR’s Maria Aspan reports on Up First. That is over 10% of the DEI jobs that existed at the start of 2023. Aspan talked with Candace Byrdsong Williams, who was laid off last summer and hasn’t been able to find a new job. Aspan says that though Williams is only one person, there are thousands of people who have been living through this very changing and politized job market.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a new group backed by the U.S. and Israel, is starting to bring limited quantities of food to Gaza, where hunger is widespread and extreme. However, the group is facing suspicion and growing criticism from the UN and other aid groups. Jake Wood, the executive director, resigned on Sunday, saying he could not abandon principles of humanity, impartiality and independence.

• 🎧 Instead of distributing food to sites in Gaza where people are starving, the new group will operate in only four new zones with Israeli soldiers guarding the perimeters, NPR’s Daniel Estrin reports. The private contractors will give out boxes of food to families once a week. A private U.S. company run by a former CIA officer is involved in the group, which won’t say where its funding comes from.

Deep dive

ears after their son left the U.S. to join ISIS, a Minnesota couple learned they had two young grandsons trapped in a Syrian desert camp. They were determined to rescue them.

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Years after their son left the U.S. to join ISIS, a Minnesota couple learned they had two young grandsons trapped in a Syrian desert camp. They’re among an estimated 22 U.S. citizens still in the sprawling, primitive camps, including about 17 American children, according to the State Department. The two Minnesota boys were there until May 2024, when they were flown in a military cargo plane to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to start a new life in the American Midwest. Read the full story here by NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer.

Picture show

The view of the Andes from Cerro San Cristobal above Santiago, Chile.

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Autumn has arrived in South America, and it’s perfect hiking conditions in Santiago, Chile, the capital, where steep hills rise above the city. At the center is Cerro San Cristóbal, with breathtaking views of wildflowers, pine forests and the Andes Mountains. NPR’s Brian Mann made the trek, where he ventured through forested hills of volcanic rock and groves of cactus. Check out photos from his journey and listen as he shares his experience from the trail here.

3 things to know before you go

Hummingbirds gather around a hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water, in a backyard in the San Fernando Valley section of the city of Los Angeles, July 17, 2014.

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1. A new study in Global Change Biology details the evolutionary change of Anna’s Hummingbirds in the western U.S., finding their beaks have grown longer and more tapered to get the most from common backyard feeders.
2. In 2016, Tulika Prasad’s non-verbal, autistic son had an outburst at a grocery store. A stranger, also a parent of a child with autism, understood what was happening. The unsung hero helped her with her groceries and offered empathy instead of showing pity.
3. Filmmaker Marcel Ophuls, who was known as one of the great documentarians of his era, died Saturday at age 97. He commanded his audience’s attention with four-hour-plus documentaries like The Sorrow and The Pity.

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.