The clash between Harvard University and the Trump administration enters a new chapter. On Monday, the university’s top leadership sued the government in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. The lawsuit aims to prevent the Trump administration from withholding federal funding intended for the university for the purpose of using it as leverage to gain control over academic decision-making at Harvard.
In addition to freezing $2.2 billion, the government has considered taking steps to block an additional $1 billion in grants, launching numerous investigations into Harvard’s activities and threatening the university with revocation of its tax-exempt status and ability to accept foreign students. Alan M. Garber, president of Harvard, noted that the administration used the excuse of growing antisemitism on campus to justify its actions.
“As a Jew and as an American, I know very well that there are valid concerns about rising antisemitism,” he said, “ato address those concerns effectively requires understanding, intention, and vigilance. Harvard takes that work seriously. We will continue to fight hate with the urgency it demands as we fully comply with our obligations under the law. That is not only our legal responsibility. It is our moral imperative.”
The Ivy League university, the first to rebel against government pressure, accuses the Trump administration of violating its First Amendment rights and federal laws and procedures. Harvard also claims that although Trump administration officials have accused the university of violating Title VI, a federal law that states that any institution that violates civil rights is not eligible for federal funding, it has not followed the procedures established by the law; these include voluntary negotiations and official hearings before terminating funding.
The university’s leadership then sued the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Energy and Defense, the General Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health and NASA. Prior to the funding freeze, the government had threatened to suspend nearly $9 billion in federal funding, not only to Harvard, but also to Boston’s affiliated hospitals and independent corporate entities.
“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,” Garber added. The Harvard president also listed research jeopardized by the funding freeze, including efforts to understand how cancer spreads, to predict the spread of infectious disease outbreaks, and to reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
