Harvard University has expanded its lawsuit challenging the Donald Trump administration’s decision to cut billions in federal funding to Ivy League institutions. This follows the announcement of the termination of additional grants amounting to 450 million dollars. About this informs Reuters.
The university filed the renewed complaint in federal court in Boston just hours after the U.S. government’s Anti-Semitism Task Force said eight state agencies were canceling additional funding, adding to the $2.2 billion already suspended. This group includes representatives from such departments as the Ministries of Education, Health, Social Services and Justice. They accused Harvard of “failing to confront widespread racial discrimination and anti-Semitic oppression” on campus.
In response, the university expanded a lawsuit it filed earlier after freezing the first $2.2 billion, which covered grants from the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
The amended complaint also addresses the administration’s recent decision, outlined in a letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, to freeze future research grants and other aid until Harvard complies with the administration’s demands. The university called the requirements excessive and in violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. He also noted that “the massive funding freeze is too broad and was implemented without following proper procedures.”
“The government has not found — and cannot find — any rational connection between concerns about anti-Semitism and the medical, scientific, technological and other research it has frozen or stopped.” – says the lawsuit.
Harvard is asking federal district judge Alison Burroughs to declare the administration’s actions illegal and block the funding freeze. The court hearing in the case is tentatively scheduled for July 21.
Trump has made Harvard the target of public criticism, citing allegations of anti-Semitism amid pro-Palestinian protests on campus. He said the demonstrators supported Hamas and were anti-Semitic. Participants in the protests, which included Jewish organizations, say that their criticism of Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip is mistakenly equated with anti-Semitism, and the protection of Palestinian rights with support for radicalism.
The Trump administration announced the funding cuts after announcing in late March that it had begun a review of about $9 billion in grants and contracts with Harvard. Trump also threatened to strip the university of its nonprofit status.
In the lawsuit, Harvard emphasizes that it remains committed to combating anti-Semitism and taking steps to ensure a safe and welcoming campus environment for Jewish and Israeli students. He also says the administration’s actions threaten academic freedom. Although the university has an endowment of $53 billion—the largest of any American university—those funds are earmarked and mostly go toward student financial aid and scholarship programs.
