Harvard University rejected on Monday (14) the Trump government’s demands for changes in the institution’s policies, endangerd by almost $ 9 billion in federal funding.
The institution received a letter from a federal task force last week, describing additional political demands that “will maintain Harvard’s financial relationship with the federal government.” In a statement, Rector Alan M. Garber officially reported that the proposed agreement will not be accepted.
“We inform the government through our legal advice that we will not accept the proposed agreement. The university will not give up its independence or its constitutional rights,” he said.
The Trump government threatened numerous colleges in the United States with financing cuts if no changes in school policies were made, and Harvard’s decision marks the first time an elite university rebukes the White House for these impositions.
Among the demands of the Government Charter are the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the prohibition of the use of masks in campus protests, reforms in hiring and admission based on merit and the reduction of power of teachers and administrators “more committed to activism than to academic knowledge”.
The proposed changes are the latest effort of the federal task force to combat the
Garber stated that most demands “represent a direct government regulation of ‘intellectual conditions’ in Harvard”, as well as positioning themselves against government interference in the internal functioning of universities:
“No government – regardless of power party – should dictate what private universities can teach, who can admit and hire, and which areas of study and research can follow,” he said.
Harvard employees respond and file a process
The Harvard Teachers Section of the American Association of University Teachers (AAUP), together with the National Organization, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Friday (11), together with a request from teachers for an immediate temporary restriction order to
The lawsuit states that this action “is imminent”, citing how the Trump government has already cut off the financing of other higher education institutions, such as Columbia University, which was the first college to suffer the effects, losing $ 400 million in federal funds cuts. Nikolas Bowie, professor at the Harvard Law School, told the News Central Program CNN that “what the president of the United States is demanding from universities is nothing less than authoritarian”
“He is violating the rights of universities and faculty guaranteed by the first amendment by demanding that if universities want to keep this money, they have to suppress our freedom of expression and change what we teach and how we study,” Bowie added.
The demands on the previous government letter also included “total cooperation” with the Department of Internal Security, and with federal regulators to ensure “total compliance” according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Harvard Crimson, a newspaper managed by students.
