Harvard University has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop a freeze on $2.2 billion in federal funding, warning that the move will hurt important research work.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday, April 21, as part of an ongoing clash between the university and the government. The dispute started when Harvard rejected a set of demands from the Trump administration, which claimed they were meant to fight anti-semitism and limit diversity programs at the school.
United States President Donald Trump not only froze the funds but also threatened to remove Harvard’s tax-free status. He said the school did not meet the “basic conditions” needed to receive public money.
“The gravy train of federal assistance to institutions like Harvard… is coming to an end,” said White House spokesman Harrison Fields on Monday night. “Taxpayer funds are a privilege, and Harvard fails to meet the basic conditions required to access that privilege.”
Harvard’s president, Alan M. Garber, responded by warning that the government’s actions would cause “severe and long-lasting” damage.
Garber explained that the frozen funds were meant for life-saving research on diseases like childhood cancer, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s.
“In recent weeks, the federal government has launched a broad attack on the critical funding partnerships that make this invaluable research possible,” Harvard said in its court filing.
The lawsuit also accused the Trump administration of trying to control how Harvard makes academic decisions. “This case involves the Government’s efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard,” the university said.
Aside from the funding cuts, the administration also threatened to block Harvard from admitting international students.
Garber, who is Jewish, admitted that there have been cases of anti-semitism on campus. He said the school had set up task forces to deal with the problem and that reports on anti-semitism and anti-Muslim bias would soon be made public.
Harvard is not the only school affected. Other Ivy League schools like Cornell, Brown, and Columbia have also had funding suspended or threatened. Cornell lost $1 billion, Brown lost $510 million, and Columbia faced cuts of $400 million.
Unlike Harvard, Columbia reportedly agreed to some of the government’s demands. But Harvard strongly rejected all of them.
“The university will not surrender its independence or give up its constitutional rights,” Harvard’s lawyers wrote in an April 14 letter to the administration. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”
Former U.S. President Barack Obama, a graduate of Harvard, has also shown support for the university.
