BOSTON (AP) – Harvard University announced on Monday that it had filed a complaint to interrupt a federal frost on more than $ 2.2 billion in grants after the institution said it would defy requests from the Trump administration to limit Activism on campus.
In a letter of April 11 at Harvard, the Trump administration had called for major government reforms and leadership at university and changes in its admission policies. He also demanded the university’s audit views on diversity on campus and stop recognizing certain student clubs. THE The administration argued Universities have enabled anti -Semitism not to be controlled during campus demonstrations last year against the War of Israel in Gaza.
Harvard president Alan Garber said the university would not comply with requests. A few hours later, the government frozen billions of dollars in federal funding.
“The government does not – and cannot identify a rational link between anti -Semitic concerns and medical, scientific, technological and other research that it has frozen which aim to save American lives, to promote American success, to preserve American security and to maintain the position of America as a world leader in innovation,” said the trial, deposited before the Federal Court of Boston.
“The government has also not recognized the important consequences that the indefinite freezing of billions of dollars of federal research funding will have Harvard research programs, the beneficiaries of this research and the national interest in promoting innovation and American progress,” he added.
The Harvard trial qualified the “arbitrary and capricious” financing freezing, claiming that it violated its rights as the first amendment and the statutory provisions of title VI of the civil rights law.
In a few hours, the White House cracked back.
“The federal aid sauce train at institutions like Harvard, who enrich their bureaucrats very too much with taxes from American families in difficulty end,” said White House spokesman Harrison Fields on Monday. “Taxpayers’ funds are a privilege, and Harvard does not meet the basic conditions necessary to access this privilege.”
For the Trump administration, Harvard presents the first major obstacle in his attempt to Forces change in universities That the Republicans say have become households of liberalism and anti -Semitism. Part of this is to target the funding of research which has fueled scientific breakthroughs but has become an easy lever source for the Trump administration.
In his letter earlier this month, the administration told Harvard to impose a stricter discipline on demonstrators and to project international students for those who are “hostile to American values”.
He also called for major leadership reforms at university, changes in admission policy and at the end of university recognition for certain student clubs. The government also demanded from Harvard to audit its faculty and its student body to guarantee large views in each department and, if necessary, diversify by admitting additional students and hiring new teachers.
Last Monday, Harvard said he would not comply, quoting the first amendment. The next day, Trump went to his social platform Truth, wondering if the university should lose its tax exemption “if it continues to push for political, ideological and terrorist” disease “?”
The trial follows a table earlier this month by the American Association of University Professors demanding that a federal judge declares illegal and puts aside an examination pending and an investigation into the financing of Harvard.
The University supervises government requests as a threat not only for the Ivy League school, but for autonomy, the Supreme Court has long granted American universities.
“Today, we defend the values that have made American higher education a lighthouse for the world,” Garber wrote to the Harvard community on Monday.
“We defend the truth that colleges and universities across the country can adopt and honor their legal obligations and better fulfill their essential role in society without inappropriate government intrusion,” he added.
Anurima Bhargava, one of the elders who encouraged Harvard to take a more difficult position against the administration, praised the filing of the trial.
“The Trump administration is continuing its reckless and illegal attack for Harvard power and control, reducing billions of funding for scientific research and innovation that improves and saves lives,” she said. “Today, Harvard has again refused to access the dangerous and growing requests of the administration.”
The American Council on Education, a non -profit organization with more than 1,600 member colleges and universities, applauded Harvard.
“It has been clear for weeks that the actions of the administration have violated the regular procedure and the rule of law. We applaud Harvard for having taken this stage and is impatiently awaiting a clear and unambiguous declaration by the court reprimands the efforts to undermine the scholarship and science, “said Ted Mitchell, the chairman of the council.
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Gecker reported to San Francisco. The author of the Associated Press Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
