The lawsuit was filed as the administration plans to withhold another $1 billion from the university.
Harvard University has sued the Trump administration, asking a federal court to unfreeze billions of dollars in federal contracts and grants that the president is withholding due to what officials say is the Ivy League school’s refusal to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements and combat campus anti-Semitism
“The consequences of the government’s overreach will be severe and long-lasting. Research that the government has put in jeopardy includes efforts to improve the prospects of children who survive cancer, to understand at the molecular level how cancer spreads throughout the body, to predict the spread of infectious disease outbreaks, and to ease the pain of soldiers wounded on the battlefield,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a statement today announcing the lawsuit.
$1 billion was earmarked for medical research, as was the $2.26 billion frozen last week. Trump has also threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
The White House official did not detail the reason for the additional cuts.
This conflict goes back to executive orders regarding DEI programs in higher education, as well as campus anti-Semitism. Federal agencies began investigating the wealthiest universities shortly after Trump took office, though reports of harassment against Jewish students on the Boston campus date back to 2023.
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Earlier this month, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration explained conditions Harvard would need to meet to avoid losing about $9 million in federal funding.
That list included campus mask bans, the end of DEI programs and racial preferences in hiring and student admissions, reforms to biased programs that fuel anti-Semitism, an overhaul of the current student disciplinary system, and cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security.
On April 14, Harvard University President Alan Garber rejected those demands, telling the campus community that these federal actions “exceed its authority and infringe on both the university’s independence and its constitutional rights.”
That prompted a same-day response from the three federal agencies, organized as an anti-Semitism task force, announcing the $2.2 billion funding freeze.
“The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the task force’s statement said.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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