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Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the Donald Trump administration on Monday, launching a legal battle over the threat of losing billions in federal funding. According to CNN, in a letter to the university community, Harvard President Alan M. Garber warned of “real dire consequences” for students, faculty, physicians and researchers.
The lawsuit was a response to the Trump administration’s intensified attempt to force Harvard to produce all reports created since October 2023 on anti-Semitism and bias against Muslims on campus. Moreover, the administration is demanding access to internal drafts that have never been published and threatening to cut off funding of more than $2.2 billion.
The letter, sent on Saturday by the US Department of Health’s Office for Civil Rights, states that Harvard is required to provide information on all internal initiatives aimed at combating bias.
“These actions are not about the safety of students. It is about an attempt to turn universities into tools of political struggle,” students and representatives of Jewish organisations said.
The White House threatens to impose sanctions if Harvard does not agree to the deal:
- eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes;
- a ban on masks at protests;
- Changes in student admission policy and personnel decisions;
- Reducing the role of teachers and administration in management.
Harvard, which has become a symbol of academic resistance and political independence, rejects the demands as unconstitutional and undermining the principles of higher education in the United States.
