Former President Barack Obama said the Ivy League institution has set an important example for college and university campuses.

Former President Barack Obama applauded Harvard University after the Ivy League institution refused to comply with a list of the Trump administration’s campus policy demands in exchange for continued federal funding.

In a letter to the campus community published late Monday, Harvard President Alan M. Garber declared, “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”

The federal government’s requirements include a range of orders, from eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and cooperating with the government to monitor immigrant students to auditing campus viewpoints. Garber said the Trump demands go “beyond the power of the federal government,” violate Harvard’s First Amendment rights, and “exceed the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI.”

Despite other universities caving to similar demands from the Trump administration under the guise of combating campus antisemitism, President Obama said in a post on X that Harvard has set an important example for college and university campuses.

“Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect,” said the 44th president of the United States. “Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”

Harvard’s decision not to give in to the Trump administration’s demands has now jeopardized billions of dollars in federal grant money and contracts. President Garber said those investments have led to “groundbreaking innovations across a wide range of medical, engineering, and scientific fields.” However, Harvard has a university endowment worth more than $50 billion.

Following Harvard’s decision, a government joint task force comprised of the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and General Services Administration officially announced that the administration had frozen $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contracts from the university.

“Harvard’s statement reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” said the task force. “The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support.”

President Obama, a Harvard Law School graduate, recently condemned President Donald Trump’s many actions, including targeting private institutions like college campuses and law firms. America’s first Black president suggested there was a double standard when it comes to how he would’ve been received had he done the same things Trump did as president.

“It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me or a whole bunch of my predecessors,” said Obama during a chat at Hamilton College.

Obama said he was “more deeply concerned” with the Trump administration’s threats to American universities “if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech.”

“Imagine if I had said to law firms that were representing parties that were upset with policies my administration had initiated that you will not be allowed into government buildings,” Obama continued. “We will punish you economically for dissenting from the [Obamacare] or the Iran Deal.”