The lawsuit was filed as a plan for the administration to withhold another $1 billion from the university.
Harvard sued the Trump administration, calling on federal courts to freeze billions of dollars in federal contracts and tell them that the president is withholding because of what he says Ivy League schools reject the ultimate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requirements and refuse to fight campus conflicts.
“The consequences of government overreach will be serious and long-lasting. Research at risk by the government includes efforts to improve the outlook for cancer-surviving children, understand at a molecular level that cancer is spreading throughout the body, predict the spread of infectious disease outbreaks, and relieve the pain of injured soldiers in statements from soldiers who listened to today’s statements.
As $2.26 billion was frozen last week, $1 billion was allocated for medical research. Trump also threatened to cancel Harvard’s tax-free status.
White House officials did not detail the reasons for the additional cuts.
The conflict dates back to the DEI program in higher education and the executive order on campus anti-Semitism. The federal agency began investigating the wealthiest universities shortly after Trump took office, but reports of harassment of Jewish students on the Boston campus date back to 2023.
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Earlier this month, the Department of Education, Health and Human Services and the Department of General Services explained the condition that Harvard must meet to avoid losing about $9 million in federal funds.
The list includes the ban on campus masks, the end of the DEI program, racial preferences in recruitment and student hospitalization, reforming biased programs that promote anti-Semitism, an overhaul of the current student disciplinary system, and collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security.
On April 14, Harvard University President Alan Gerber rejected these requests, informing the campus community that these federal actions “exceed its authority and violate both the independence and constitutional rights of the university.”
This prompted the same day response from three federal agencies organized as anti-Semitism task forces, and announced a $2.2 billion funding freeze.
“The learning confusion that has plagued campus in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is unbearable. If elite universities want to continue receiving taxpayer support, it’s time to take the issue seriously and commit to meaningful change,” the task force statement said.
This is a broken story and will be updated.
