Topline
Harvard University filed a lawsuit Monday to halt a funding freeze placed on the school by President Donald Trump and his administration—escalating the feud between Harvard and Trump’s administration over Harvard’s refusal to comply with demands sent by the government.
Water flows down the Charles River near Harvard University, in background.
Key Facts
Harvard President Alan Garber said in a statement Monday evening the funding freeze is “unlawful and beyond the government’s authority.”
“The consequences of the government’s overreach will be severe and long-lasting,” Garber continued, noting the Trump administration’s actions and threats have “stark real-life consequences.”
The lawsuit alleges the government is “withholding …federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decisionmaking at Harvard,” and that its actions violate the First Amendment, which doesn’t allow the government to “interfere with private actors’ speech to advance its own vision of ideological balance.”
The lawsuit comes one week after the Education Department’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced a freeze on $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard, citing the school’s “troubling entitlement mindset” after leadership refused to agree to demands including for the college to make changes to its governance, admissions and hiring processes.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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Crucial Quote
“Before taking punitive action, the law requires that the federal government engage with us about the ways we are fighting and will continue to fight antisemitism,” Garber wrote Monday. “Instead, the government’s April 11 demands seek to control whom we hire and what we teach. Today, we stand for the values that have made American higher education a beacon for the world.”
Further Reading
Trump Administration Demands Harvard Disclose Foreign Funding—Escalating Feud (Forbes)
