Harvard University announced on Monday it has filed a lawsuit to stop the administration of US President Donald Trump from blocking its federal funding of more than $2.2 billion.
Also Read | Harvard vs Donald Trump: Explained in 10 simple points
The funding freeze is “unlawful” and “beyond the government’s authority,” the university said in a statement on its X handle.
“Moments ago, we filed a lawsuit to halt the funding freeze because it is unlawful and beyond the government’s authority,” the statement quoted Harvard University president Alan Garber as saying.
The lawsuit
Harvard University has filed its lawsuit in a Massachusetts federal court, and named several other universities targeted by the US president.
“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 government’s actions flout not just the First Amendment, but also federal laws and regulations,” according to the lawsuit.
Earlier, Harvard president Garber said, “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.”
This was in response to the federal government’s list of demands which Harvard would have to “satisfy” to continue receiving federal funds.
Donald Trump vs Harvard University
Trump and his White House team have publicly justified their campaign against Harvard and other universities as a “reaction” to what they say is “uncontrolled anti-Semitism” on campuses, and the need to “reverse” diversity programmes aimed at addressing “historical oppression of minorities.”
The administration claims that anti-Israel protests, which swept across US college campuses last year, were “rife with anti-Semitism.”
Universities, including Harvard, had cracked down on the protests over the allegations at the time, with the Cambridge-based institute placing 23 students on probation and denying degrees to 12 others, according to protest organizers.
Other institutions, including Columbia, have bowed to less far-ranging demands from the Trump administration, which claims that the educational elite is “too left-wing.”
