Harvard Professors Sue the Trump Administration While Other Universities Are Targeted
- Two groups representing Harvard University professors have filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, alleging that the threat to cut federal funding violates free speech and First Amendment rights.
- The Trump Administration had previously announced plans to send a list of demands to unfreeze $9 billion in federal funding for Harvard, citing concerns over antisemitism and racial discrimination on campus.
- Other universities, including Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Brown, Penn, Princeton, and over 50 others, have also been targeted by the Trump Administration due to their efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
- The campaign has resulted in over $12 billion in federal funds being suspended or canceled, with mostly grants and contracts from the Agriculture, Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services departments affected.
- Harvard faculty argue that the Trump Administration’s policies are a pretext to chill universities and their faculties from engaging in speech, teaching, and research that don’t align with President Trump’s views.
IBL News | New York
Two groups representing Harvard University professors (the American Association of University Professors and the Harvard faculty chapter) filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration on Friday, saying that the threat to cut billions in federal funding for the institution violates free speech and other First Amendment rights.
The Trump Administration announced two weeks ago that it reviewed about $9 billion in federal funding that Harvard receives and would send a list of demands to unfreeze the money.
In a statement, Andrew Manuel Crespo, a law professor at Harvard and general counsel of the AAUP-Harvard Faculty Chapter, said the “Trump administration’s policies are a pretext to chill universities and their faculties from engaging in speech, teaching, and research that don’t align with President Trump’s views.”
“Harvard faculty have the constitutional right to speak, teach, and conduct research without fearing that the government will retaliate against their viewpoints by canceling grants,” Mr. Crespo added.
Other universities like Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Brown, Penn, Princeton, and over fifty more have also been targeted over allegations of antisemitism or accusations of racial discrimination, stemming from their efforts to promote DEI programs.
This campaign has resulted in more than $12 billion in federal funds being suspended or canceled.
Earlier this month, the Trump Administration said it had frozen over $1 billion in funding for Cornell and Northwestern.
The funding pause involves mostly grants and contracts with the Agriculture, Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services departments.