Harvard University has sued the United States President Donald Trump’s administration for threatening the institution’s funding and imposing outside political supervision.
Trump has sought to bring several prestigious universities to heel over claims they tolerated campus anti-Semitism, threatening their budgets, tax-exempt status, and the enrollment of foreign students, but Harvard has refused to bow.
“This case involves the Government’s efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decision making at Harvard,” the Ivy League university said in a lawsuit filed in a Massachusetts federal court that named several other institutions targeted by Trump on Monday, April 21, 2025.
“The Government’s actions flout not just the First Amendment, but also federal laws and regulations,” said the complaint, which called Trump’s actions “arbitrary and capricious”.
Trump is furious at Harvard for rejecting government supervision of its admissions, hiring practices and political slant, and last week ordered the freezing of $2.2 billion in federal funding to the storied institution.
The lawsuit calls for the freezing of funds and conditions imposed on federal grants to be declared unlawful, as well as for the Trump administration to pay Harvard’s costs.
Trump freezes $2bn Harvard University funds after rejecting president’s demands
Trump and his White House team have publicly justified their campaign against universities as a reaction to what they say is uncontrolled “anti-Semitism” and a need to reverse diversity programs aimed at addressing historical oppression of minorities.
The administration claims protests against Israel’s war in Gaza that swept across U.S. college campuses last year were rife with anti-Semitism, AFP reported.
Many U.S. universities, including Harvard, cracked down on the protests over the allegations at the time, with the Cambridge-based institution placing 23 students on probation and denying degrees to 12 others, according to protest organisers.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform last week: “Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges.
“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”
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