Harvard professors sue Trump over threat to US$9 billion in funding
The US president’s administration is reviewing grants and contracts as it cracks down on diversity programmes and Gaza protests on campuses
Harvard University professors are suing to block the Trump administration’s review of nearly US$9 billion in federal contracts and grants awarded to the Ivy League school as part of a crackdown on what it says is antisemitism on college campuses.
The Harvard faculty chapter of the American Association of University Professors and the national arm of the academic organisation said in a lawsuit filed on Friday in a Boston federal court that the administration was trying to unlawfully undermine academic freedom and free speech on the school’s campus.
The US Department of Justice, which is defending the administration’s policies in court, did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Harvard declined to comment.
Several elite universities including Harvard have seen their federal funding threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration over pro-Palestinian campus protests as well as other issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion programmes and transgender policies.
The US Departments of Education and Health and Human Services along with the US General Services Administration on March 31 said that US$255.6 million in contracts between Harvard, its affiliates and the federal government were being reviewed, along with US$8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments.