The elite US university Harvard has received a $2.2 billion freeze in federal funding after rejecting a list of sweeping demands that the White House says are aimed at cracking down on anti-Semitism on university campuses, AFP reports.

The university released a letter to students and employees opposing the President Donald Trump administration's call for changes to governance, hiring practices and admissions policies.

"Today's statement from Harvard reinforces the troubling mindset about rights that is endemic at our country's most prestigious universities and colleges - that federal investment is not linked to the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws," the Trump Joint Task Force on Combating Anti-Semitism said in a statement. | BGNES