Trump team takes aim at Ivy League, gearing up attacks on diversity programmes

US president-elect Donald Trump’s team has asked a key conservative activist to present a plan to slash federal funding for universities that refuse to scrap diversity and equity programmes.

Christopher Rufo, who played a role in ousting Harvard’s first black president Claudine Gay earlier this year, said he was invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate next week to deliver the sweeping proposal.

A senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, Rufo plans to attend an event that Russ Vought is holding this Wednesday at the South Florida private club, which has served as the centre for Trump’s transition planning.

Rufo said he will meet Trump administration officials and pitch how to tie federal funding to ending diversity, equity and inclusion programmes at all public and private universities.

Potential restrictions could threaten billions of dollars of federal funds that Ivy League colleges secure every year for research and other areas. Harvard alone received US$686 million during the past academic year, its largest source of support for research.

“I hope the president turns the screws on DEI in the Ivy Leagues,” Rufo said in an interview. “This would put conditions on federal funding, especially the Ivy Leagues, if they practice discrimination regarding DEI.”