Harvard University on Monday filed a lawsuit against the President Donald Trump-led US administration following the suspension of federal funding of more than USD 2.2 billion in grants and a push for increased government oversight of the private university. As per reports, the 51-page lawsuit was filed in Boston federal court, urging a judge to overturn the funding freeze. Harvard contends that the move is both "unlawful" and exceeds the legal authority granted to the federal government. The legal action comes after Harvard publicly declared it would not comply with the administration's demands to curb campus activism and overhaul university policies.
The dispute stems from an April 11 letter sent to the university by the Trump administration, which outlined sweeping expectations for change. The administration called for reforms in Harvard's leadership and governance, revisions to its admissions policies, and a comprehensive audit of how diversity is viewed and implemented on campus.
These include implementing what the government describes as "merit-based" policies in admissions and hiring, conducting a sweeping audit of faculty, students, and leadership regarding their stances on diversity, and banning the use of face masks -- a measure seemingly directed at pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campus.
However, Harvard President Alan Garber said that the university would stand its ground and not bend to these directives. Within hours of the statement, the federal government retaliated by freezing billions in funding that supports key research and academic programmes at the institution. "The Government has not, and cannot, identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen that aims to save American lives, foster American success, preserve American security, and maintain America's position as a global leader in innovation," said the lawsuit.
"Nor has the Government acknowledged the significant 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.
Harvard's suit also called the funding freeze "arbitrary and capricious," saying it violated its First Amendment rights and the statutory provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Last Monday, Harvard had said it would not comply with the Trump administration's directives, citing the First Amendment.
White House responds to Harvard's move
Meanwhile, the White House has responded to the development, criticising the university’s reliance on taxpayer money. "The gravy train of federal assistance to institutions like Harvard, which enrich their grossly overpaid bureaucrats with tax dollars from struggling American families, is coming to an end. Taxpayer funds are a privilege, and Harvard fails to meet the basic conditions required to access that privilege," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in an email, as per the Associated Press (AP).
Pro-Palestinian protests at Harvard in 2024
The Pro-Palestinian protests at Harvard weren't just another flash-in-the-pan moment of campus activism—they became a defining chapter in the university's long history of political engagement and ideological debate. Student groups like the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and the Harvard Undergraduate Association for Justice in Palestine quickly mobilized. They organised vigils, teach-ins, and public demonstrations, calling for an immediate ceasefire, an end to US military aid to Israel, and institutional accountability within Harvard itself.
By October, the protests had grown into a full-blown movement. Harvard Yard turned into a mini-encampment zone, echoing shades of Occupy Wall Street and the Vietnam War protests decades earlier. Tents were pitched, banners were unfurled—"From the river to the sea," "Ceasefire now," and "Books not bombs" were among the slogans that caught every passerby’s eye.