Ivy League schools have filed a lawsuit to stop the federal freeze in the United States with a grant of more than $2.2 billion.
Harvard University sued President Donald Trump’s administration to stop the government’s suspension in funding for US educational institutions.
“Last week, the federal government took several steps after Harvard refused to comply with its illegal demands,” Harvard President Alan Gerber said in a statement Monday.
“Some time ago, we filed a lawsuit to stop the financing freeze as it is illegal and exceeds government authority,” Gerber said.
Among the US government agencies mentioned in the Harvard lawsuit were the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Justice, Department of Energy, and the Department of General Services.
The Trump administration did not immediately have any comment.
But Trump and his White House team have publicly justified their campaign against the university as an uncontrolled “anti-Semitism” response to what they say, and as a need to reverse diversity programs aimed at dealing with the historical repetition of minorities.
The administration argues that protests against Israeli war in Gaza, which swept US university campuses last year, were full of anti-Semitism.
“The government has not identified any rational connections between anti-Semitism concerns and medical, scientific, technical and other research aimed at saving American lives, promoting American success, maintaining America’s security, and maintaining America’s status as a global leader in innovation.
Many U.S. universities, including Harvard, cracked down on protests against the claims at the time, with the Cambridge-based facility placing 23 students on probation and denying 12 degrees, according to probation organizers.
Other institutions, including Columbia University in New York City, have succumbed to more distant demands from the Trump administration, which claims that education elites are too left-wing.
Tyler Coward, the lead lawyer for government affairs for the Nonpartisan First Amendment Group, Individual Rights and Expression Foundation, praised Harvard for “taking a principled position on the federal passages that threaten the core values of higher education.”
“The Trump administration’s attempt to bypass federal civil rights laws and impose radical ideological obligations through financial enforcement sets a dangerous precedent,” Coward said.
“Universities must comply with civil rights laws to receive federal funds. Enforcement of these laws must be legal, transparent and respect constitutional rights.”
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