Harvard University president Alan Garber acknowledges applause from students during Commencement exercises at Harvard University in May 2025. Photo: Brian Snyder via Reuters Connect

Harvard University will retain Alan Garber as president for an “indefinite” period, the Harvard Corporation announced on Tuesday in a statement which commended the leadership and presence of the man who has led the institution through a cascade of controversies around the issue of campus antisemitism, left-wing bias in academia, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

“Alan’s humble, resilient, and effective leadership has shown itself to be not just a vital source of calm in turbulent times, but also a generative force for sustaining Harvard’s commitment to academic excellence and to free inquiry and expression,” Harvard Corporation senior fellow Penny Pritzker said in a statement issued on behalf of the body, which is the equivalent of a board of trustees.

She continued, “From restoring a sense of community during a period of intense scrutiny and division to launching vital new programs on viewpoint diversity and civil discourses and instituting new actions to fight antisemitism and anti-Arab bias, Alan has not only stabilized the university but brought us together in support of our shared mission.”

Appointed in January 2024 as interim president, Garber — who previously served roles as Harvard’s provost and chief academic officer — rose to the top position at America’s oldest and, arguably, most prestigious institution at a time when the job was least desirable. At the time, Harvard was being pilloried over some of its students cheering Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel and even forming gangs which mobbed Jewish students wending their way through campus; the university had suffered the embarrassment of its first Black president being outed as a serial plagiarist, a stunning disclosure which called into question its vetting procedures as well as its embrace of affirmative action; and anti-Israel activists on campus were disrupting classes and calling for others to “globalize the intifada.”

After taking office, Garber spent the next nearly two years sparring with organizers of an illegal anti-Israel encampment on Harvard Yard, denouncing faculty for sharing antisemitic cartoons on social media, and battling with US President Donald Trump over funding for elite higher education.

The Trump administration presented Garber with his most complex challenge, one in which he was forced to balance on one hand correcting the public’s image of Harvard as a left-wing resort for the children of the rich and a meeting ground for anti-American activities and, on the other hand, appearing to resist a serious attempt by a conservative president to remold higher education into a shape that would be unpalatable to much of the university’s faculty and administration.

Ultimately, Trump ordered the expropriation of $2.26 billion in Harvard’s federal funds after the institution refused to agree to a wishlist of policy reforms that Republican lawmakers said would make higher education more meritocratic and less welcoming to anti-Zionists and far-left extremists. Contained in a letter the administration sent to Garber — who subsequently released it to the public — the policies called for “viewpoint diversity in hiring and admissions,” the “discontinuation of DEI initiatives,” and “reducing forms of governance bloat.” They also implored Harvard to begin “reforming programs with egregious records of antisemitism” and to recalibrate its approach to “student discipline.”

Harvard, with Garber acting as its chief negotiator and strategist, refused the president his wishes even after losing the money and took the issue to federal court. Meanwhile, it built a financial war chest, leveraging its GDP-sized assets to issue over $1 billion dollars in new debt and drawing on its substantial cash reserves to keep the lights on. Eventually, it overcame the administration in the first stage of litigation, securing from a judge appointed by former US President Barack Obama restitution of some of the funds the administration impounded — but the nine-figure sum it lost in the process led to its largest budget deficit, $113 million, since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Meanwhile, Harvard has faced a slew of lawsuits accusing school officials of standing down while anti-Israel activists abused Jewish students. It settled some of the cases and prevailed in others. At the same time, Harvard agreed to incorporate into its policies a definition of antisemitism supported by most of the Jewish community, established new rules governing campus protests, and announced new partnerships with Israeli academic institutions. By all accounts, it is in no rush to settle its dispute with the Trump administration.

In Tuesday’s announcement, the university stressed that it feels secure with Garber “at the helm.”

“We remain fortunate to have Alan Garber,” Pritzker said. “My colleagues on the governing boards join in thanking him for his steadfast service. And we join in thanking all of you as well for the countless ways you advance and support not only Harvard but the entire enterprise of higher education, at a time when such efforts are as consequential as they have ever been.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.