Late last week, officials at Harvard University were trying to decipher what the Trump administration wanted the school to do to combat antisemitism.

The government had made some straightforward demands, like requiring the school to ban masks, which are often favored by protesters.

But other demands seemed vague.

Then, late on Friday night, the federal government sent Harvard a five-page fusillade of new demands that would reshape the school’s operations, admissions, hiring, faculty and student life.

It took less than 72 hours for Harvard to say no.

The decision is the most overt defiance by a university since President Trump began pressuring higher education to conform to his political priorities.

It came after leaders at Harvard, during intense discussions over the weekend, determined that what the government was proposing represented a profound threat to the 388-year-old university’s independence and mission.

Harvard has extraordinary financial and political firepower for a clash with Washington. And the university’s leaders watched Columbia University reel, as the Trump administration made more demands, even after the school capitulated.

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