Harvard University sued the Trump administration on Monday after the federal government said it was freezing $2.2 billion in grants and sought what university officials described as “unprecedented and improper” control over the Ivy League institution.
“The consequences of the government’s overreach will be severe and long-lasting,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a message Monday announcing the lawsuit.
The suit, filed in federal district court in Massachusetts, accuses the administration of flouting the First Amendment and federal laws and regulations.
Last week, the Trump administration announced that it was freezing federal funding after the school refused to accept demands that the administration has said aim to address antisemitism on campus.
Among the government’s demands were an audit of student body views and a ban on international students who are “hostile to the American values and institutions.”
In Monday’s suit, the university argued that the funding freeze is not related to the administration’s antisemitism concerns.
“The Government has not — and cannot — identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen that aims to save American lives, foster American success, preserve American security, and maintain America’s position as a global leader in innovation,” the lawsuit said. “Nor has the Government acknowledged the significant consequences that the indefinite freeze of billions of dollars in federal research funding will have on Harvard’s research programs, the beneficiaries of that research, and the national interest in furthering American innovation and progress.”
Harvard is asking a federal judge in Massachusetts to declare the president’s “freeze order” unconstitutional and to order the government to reverse any terminations of — or freezes to — federal funding.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.