Harvard University has rejected demands from the Trump administration, which threatened to withhold billions in federal funding if the institution did not comply with certain policies.
In response, Harvard President Alan Garber argued that losing the funding would “halt life-saving research” and violated the First Amendment. This marked the first instance of a major university pushing back against such funding threats from the Trump administration.
In an effort to block the funding cut, Harvard faculty members filed a request with a federal judge, describing the threat as an “existential ‘gun to the head'” for the university. This move follows a similar situation at Columbia University, which agreed to adhere to the administration’s demands after its federal funding was suspended due to campus protests.
Additionally, the Department of Education has launched investigations into Cornell University and Northwestern University, resulting in the suspension of over $1 billion in funding to Cornell and nearly $800 million to Northwestern for alleged civil rights violations.
