Harvard sues Trump administration to stop the freeze of more than $2 billion in grants

BOSTON AP Harvard University reported Monday that it was suing the Trump administration to halt a freeze on more than billion in grants after the institution noted it would defy the Trump administration s demands to limit activism on campus Related Articles Supreme Court appears likely to uphold Obamacare s preventive care coverage mandate Pupil loans in default to be referred to debt collection Training Department says Wife of former US Sen Bob Menendez convicted in bribery scheme Homeland Protection Secretary Noem s purse stolen at DC restaurant agents say Trump s transportation agents buck a long-held practice of using road diets to slow speeders In a letter to Harvard earlier this month the Trump administration had called for broad regime and leadership reforms at the university as well as changes to its admissions policies It also demanded that the university audit views of diversity on campus and stop recognizing specific novice clubs Harvard President Alan Garber disclosed the university would not bend to the regime s demands Hours later the cabinet froze billions of dollars in federal funding The Authorities has not and cannot identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the healthcare scientific technological and other research it has frozen that aims to save American lives foster American success preserve American assurance and maintain America s position as a global leader in innovation the university wrote in its lawsuit Nor has the Cabinet acknowledged the crucial consequences that the indefinite freeze of billions of dollars in federal research funding will have on Harvard s research programs the beneficiaries of that research and the national interest in furthering American innovation and progress it added The Trump administration in the April letter narrated Harvard to impose tougher discipline on protesters and to screen international students for those who are hostile to the American values It also called for broad leadership reforms at the university changes to admissions policies and the removal of college recognition for selected novice clubs The governing body also demanded Harvard audit its faculty and apprentice body to ensure wide viewpoints in every department and if necessary diversify by admitting additional students and hiring new faculty Last Monday Harvard reported it would not comply citing the First Amendment The following day Trump took to his Truth Social platform questioning whether the university should lose its tax-exempt status if it keeps pushing political ideological and terrorist inspired supporting Sickness The Trump administration also threatened to block the university from enrolling international students The university frames the governing body s demands as a threat not only to the Ivy League school but to the autonomy that the Supreme Court has long granted American universities For the Trump administration Harvard presents the first major hurdle in its attempt to force change at universities that Republicans say have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism The conflict is straining the longstanding relationship between the federal ruling body and universities that use federal money to fuel scientific breakthroughs Long seen as a benefit to the greater good that money has become an easy source of leverage for the Trump administration Nowadays we stand for the values that have made American higher learning a beacon for the world Garber wrote Monday to the Harvard district We stand for the truth that colleges and universities across the country can embrace and honor their legal obligations and best fulfill their essential role in society without improper regime intrusion he wrote That is how we achieve academic excellence safeguard open inquiry and freedom of speech and conduct pioneering research and how we advance the boundless exploration that propels our nation and its people into a better future