‘Moving the Goalposts’: What You Need to Know About DeVos’s Closer Scrutiny of Foreign Gifts

Calling for more reporting of foreign gifts than is widely practiced, the U.S. Department of Education’s letters to Harvard and Yale Universities this week signaled a ratcheting up of scrutiny of relations between American campuses and Chinese entities. In the two letters, each dated Tuesday, the department said Harvard and Yale may not have fully detailed their gifts and contracts with foreign entities as required by federal law. The cited provision requires universities to tell the Education Department about gifts from and contracts with foreign sources greater than $250,000.