April 22, (THEWILL) – Harvard University has filed a federal lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President, Donald Trump, marking a significant escalation in tensions between the Ivy League institution and the Republican-led government.
The legal action, filed on Monday in a Massachusetts federal court, challenges what Harvard describes as an “unlawful and politically motivated attempt to control its academic affairs by threatening its federal funding.”
The 51-page complaint asks the court to halt and declare unlawful the $2.2 billion freeze, as well as any freezes made in connection with “unconstitutional conditions” in the Trump administration’s April 3 and April 11 letters outlining demands to Harvard.
In the complaint, Harvard accused the administration of unlawfully freezing billions in research funding to pressure the University into restructuring its governance, academic programmes, and hiring practices. It argued that the freeze violates the First Amendment by “imposing viewpoint-based conditions on Harvard’s funding.”
The University also accused federal agencies of bypassing legally required procedures under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, alleging that the Department of Health and Human Services cut off grants without fair legal justification.
Harvard President, Alan M. Garber, has firmly rejected the administration’s demands, alleging that the Trump administration’s set of demands on April 11 was part of a campaign against Harvard that used concerns of campus antisemitism as a pretext.
Harvard will be represented by Robert K. Hur ’95 and William A. Burck. Lawyers affiliated with law firms Ropes & Gray and Lehtosky Keller Cohn will also represent Harvard, according to the lawsuit.
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