The academic front is closing ranks against a political clampdown considered dangerous and invasive. Yale has officially joined a coalition of 18 other universities supporting the lawsuit filed by Harvard against the Trump administration, which is accused of illegitimately suspending research funding. The institutions, including nearly all of the Ivy League peers (excluding Columbia and Cornell), have requested to file an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts in support of the historic university.
According to the motion submitted, the halt of federal funding would not only harm Harvard but would undermine the entire American research ecosystem, jeopardizing a balance built over decades of collaboration between campuses and the government. It is emphasized that federal resources have played a central role in scientific innovation, national security, and the development of life-saving therapies. Cited examples specifically concern Yale, which thanks to this funding has achieved major breakthroughs such as the first administration of chemotherapy and the creation of the insulin pump.
The document outlines that the cuts would not only terminate crucial projects but would also interrupt ongoing experiments, compromise data sets, hinder the careers of young scientists, and reduce long-term investments across the country. Representing the academic coalition legally is former U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., a Yale graduate from the class of 1979.
Judge Allison D. Burroughs granted the petitioners’ request to intervene in the case, although at the time of her decision, the proposed brief had not yet been formally filed. The lawsuit brought by Harvard, initiated on April 21, accuses the Republican administration of acting unlawfully by freezing the funds and demanding radical changes in governance and internal campus policies. The university’s president, Alan Garber, has described these demands as an unprecedented intrusion that would jeopardize academic autonomy.
This is not the only legal dispute: Harvard filed a second lawsuit on May 23, after the Department of Homeland Security threatened to revoke the certification required to host international students–a measure that has since been temporarily suspended by the court until June 20.
The justification offered by the Trump administration’s leadership for these actions is the accusation that America’s oldest university tolerated episodes of antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests.
