Harvard University won a great legal victory in its battle against the Trump administration after a court decides that the US government illegally froze over $ 2 billion in funding for research.
The US government violated Harvard’s freedom of expression rights and did not follow the procedures appropriate to suspend a wide range of research scholarships in April, according to a federal judge. The decision paves the way for appeals to be released to the university, although administration can still appeal.
Harvard has been the main target of President Donald Trump’s efforts to reformulate elite higher education, a campaign that began accusing universities to foster anti -Semitism, but which expanded to a broader attack on diversity programs and alleged political biases. Administration stated that it was retaining federal funding because the university did not protect Jewish students on campus after the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas, among other issues.
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In the ruling, US district judge Allison Burroughs said the Trump administration violated Harvard’s freedom of expression, as well as US civil and administrative laws.
The Trump administration “used anti -Semitism as a smoke curtain for an ideological attack aimed at the country’s leading universities, and did it in a way that violates the law,” Burroughs wrote in an 84 -page opinion. She issued the decision as a summary judgment after deciding that a complete judgment was not necessary.
Although the decision is a victory for Harvard and its president Alan Garber, the university’s broader conflict with administration continues. The government also threatened Harvard’s fiscal exemption status and tried to prevent international students enrollment.
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Negotiations according to
Trump said he wants Harvard’s “no less than $ 500 million” in any possible lawsuit. Several other universities have opted for agreements instead of battle in court, including Columbia University, which agreed to pay $ 221 million.
As part of another process, Burroughs temporarily suspended government’s efforts to bar the enrollment of international students and prevent their entry into the US to study at the university.
The decision occurs while students return to campus to the semester of autumn.
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Harvard warned that the combined cost of federal university actions, including a recent increase in taxes on its equity fund, could reach $ 1 billion a year. A letter sent by Garber and other leaders said each school and unit will cut expenses, and the freezing of hiring will remain in force.
University lawyers argued that the US violated the rights of the first amendment by requiring Harvard to give control and make specific changes to continue to receive government resources.
At an audience in July, the university asked the judge to annul the freezing order, calling the decision of the administration “arbitrary and capricious”. They also claimed that the US did not follow the appropriate procedures by suddenly interrupting the financing, violating the procedural limits of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Law.
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Civil rights
The administration insisted that it was protecting students’ civil rights and called the public funds of privilege to be won. Government lawyers said the US could cut the funding if Harvard “was no longer aligned” with the government’s priorities.
At the hearing, Burroughs said it was “a little surprising” the government’s argument that it could terminate contracts disagreed with points of view not related to the theme of the bags. But lawyers of the Justice Department said the government can terminate contracts “for any political reasons.”
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