US President Donald Trump threatened the university by taking the status of an institution exempt from taxes.
The renowned Harvard University sued Monday at the Federal Court in the Massachusetts State of US President Donald Trump’s administration for freezing multi -year grants totaling $ 2.2 billion (€ 1.9 billion). According to the university, the government threatens academic freedom, AFP reported.
The lawsuit states that the government is using deliberate detention of federal funds as a lever “to obtain control of academic decision -making at Harvard University”. This measure is arbitrary and contradicts not only the first amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, but also with federal laws and regulations. The university therefore requires the abolition of grants freezing.
Threat of removing the status
Last week, Trump threatened that the University will take the status of tax exemption institutions and include it as “political organizations” if he refuses to submit to the government’s supervision. The elite university located near Boston has previously frozen multi -year grants.
Trump justifies his steps with the misconception of the university’s “ideology” and its alleged anti -Semitism. This is referring to the propalestinian demonstrations that took place at several American universities, including Harvard after the war in the Gaza Strip. In March, the US Department of Education announced on this basis that it will review state support for a total of 60 universities and universities.
Unlike most American universities, however, Harvard’s management resists Trump’s requirements to terminate measures to support racial diversity in the ranks of students and teachers or cooperation with immigration authorities in testing students. Harvard President Alan Garber declared that the university will not negotiate its independence or its constitutional rights.
