As President Trump announces he’s making good on his pledge to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, dozens of senior faculty members are vowing to fork over portions of their salaries to support the school in its defiance of the federal government. 

“We are heartened by the University’s rejection of the Trump administration’s demands. We also recognize that the University now faces severe financial damage for its defense of academic freedom,” the organizers behind the effort wrote in an online petition. 

As of Thursday afternoon, some 84 senior faculty members had obliged the petition’s “extraordinary request” and pledged to donate 10 percent of their paycheck for the year to the university amid its legal battle against the government. One of the petition’s organizers, Ryan Enos, a government professor, said that they had amassed an estimated $2.5 million in commitments. 

It’s not yet clear how the funds would be used. The petition notes that the implementation details are “intentionally open” to encourage supporters to move “quickly” and that the pledges are “not binding.” 

The effort offers a significant show of faculty support for the university as it fights the government in court. Yet the amount raised covers just a fraction of the $2.2 billion in federal funding that the administration has revoked so far. The university is likely to remain iced out of the money at least through the summer — given that opening arguments for the lawsuit were recently set for July 21 — unless the government or the university back down and negotiate a deal. 

Harvard maintains that the funding cuts already in place will force researchers to halt life-saving projects in fields like cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, obesity and diabetes, and more. The university has already begun to tighten its belt by laying off employees who are employed via federally funded research, downsizing first-year Ph.D. classes, and canceling building leases. 

More financial troubles may yet be ahead. The administration has reportedly considered yanking yet another billion dollars in funding. Additionally, the university’s tax-exempt status — which allows it to avoid paying income taxes on any net earnings and provides donors with income-tax deductions — may be next on the chopping block. 

Mr. Trump floated the idea of going after the school’s tax-exemption last month before doubling down on Friday. “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” he wrote on Truth Social. It’s not entirely clear what case the government intends to make to revoke Harvard’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. 

Although Harvard boasts the largest endowment of any American university — an eye-watering $53 billion — the pool of funds cannot be used as an all-purpose piggy bank to fill in the holes left by the frozen grants and contracts. Harvard’s ability to tap the pool of funds is limited by donor restrictions, legal challenges, and other investment-related obstacles. 

Harvard has thus been eyeing other ways to drum up cash, including issuing billions of dollars in taxable bonds and reaching out to its wealthy alumni base. Although the university’s mega-donors have appeared hesitant to sign any new big checks — some remain disappointed in the university’s failure to address antisemitism while others worry about political risks of publicly backing the institution — the school has seen an outpouring of support from smaller donors.