Alan Garber

Back in April the influential New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks called for a mass movement of resistance against Donald Trump's rule-by-decree which, he said, was "shackling the greatest institutions in American life".

- By Andrew Anthony

All movements require leaders, and, although Brooks didn't mention any names, an unlikely candidate has emerged in recent weeks.

Alan Garber is a mild-mannered 70-year-old, small in stature with a high forehead, grey beard and a reedy voice - the very embodiment of the word "unprepossessing". Yet in an era in which heroes appear to be in short supply, Garber, who is president of Harvard University, has gained an heroic aura by defying the Trump administration.

It started in March when the administration announced it was reviewing $9bn in grants and contracts to Harvard because the university had not done enough to prevent antisemitism on campus.

Garber, who is himself Jewish, responded in characteristically temperate manner, committing to cooperate with the federal task force on antisemitism while recounting the reforms already under way.

It made no difference. A month later he received a letter from the White House demanding he audit the opinions of students and faculty and requiring pro-Palestinian student organisations be banned.

Unlike his counterpart at Columbia University, Garber refused to buckle.

As he wrote in response: "No government - regardless of which party is in power - should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue."

For Trump that was a declaration of war. He froze federal funds, and the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement that included the mafia-like line: "Let this serve as a warning."

It also revoked the university's right to enrol foreign students, although last week a federal judge upheld Harvard's attempt to block the restriction.