The management of Harvard University has sued President Donald Trump’s administration as the institution fights back against threats to cut billions of dollars in research grants.
The decision followed Mr Trump’s ongoing crusade against major American universities as his administration sought to stamp out left-wing agendas and anti-semitism from colleges in the United States.
According to The New York Times, the situation escalated earlier this month when the Trump administration sent a list of demands that Harvard must implement.
The demands included reporting international students accused of misconduct to the federal government.
The list also included auditing professors for plagiarism and the appointment of an outside overseer to make sure that academic departments were “viewpoint diverse” alongside a threat from the Trump administration to cut up to $1 billion in research funding to the university if the management refuses to comply and elimination of visas for international students at Harvard.
The Harvard management did not welcome the demands, with the university’s president, Alan Garber coming out on Monday accusing the government of trying to wield “unprecedented and improper control,” adding that the consequences of the government’s actions would be “severe and long-lasting”.
Meanwhile, the university has now filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration at a federal court in Massachusetts, accusing the government of unleashing a broad attack as “leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard.”
It also references other major universities that have faced abrupt funding cuts.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, acting administrator of the General Services Stephen Ehikian, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and several other administration officials were named defendants in the lawsuit.
