As the MAGA-fied federal government continues to lie about what DEI is and erode free speech under the guise of eroding “improper ideology,” Harvard University has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing the White House of trying to seize “unprecedented and improper” control over the school’s programs and curriculum.
According to NBC News, Harvard filed the suit in federal district court in Massachusetts on Monday, after the federal government announced that it was freezing $2.2 billion in grants awarded to the university, which it did in response to Harvard President Alan Garber releasing a lengthy letter rejecting Trump’s demands to eliminate its diversity initiatives in order to “combat antisemitism” at Harvard that Trump and his minions have not provided evidence of the existence of.
“The consequences of the government’s overreach will be severe and long-lasting,” Garber wrote in a separate message announcing the 51-page lawsuit, which asks a federal judge in Massachusetts to declare the president’s “freeze order” unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment as well as various other federal laws and regulations.
“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 states. “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.”
Yeah — presenting evidence, let alone proof, to substantiate their outlandish claims is simply not a thing Trump or his propaganda-heavy administration does, nor is reckoning with their glaring hypocrisy.
Remember back during the Obama years when Republicans were all about promoting a “small” federal government that didn’t meddle in the affairs of state governments and private institutions? Well, that was before Trump, the MAGA messiah, came along and showed them the path to weaponizing white grievance to force-feed conservative ideology onto the American populace by MAGA-fying those institutions under penalty of defunding. And Harvard isn’t the only institution of learning that is affected by the forced conservative indoctrination that Trump and the GOP are trying to sell as a reversal of “leftist indoctrination.”
From NBC:
Last month, Columbia University agreed to a list of administration demands after the government said it would cut $400 million in funding over “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
The administration also hit Princeton University with $4 million in cuts in part for promoting what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick described as “climate anxiety” through a lab that develops atmospheric and oceanic models. The school was one of several universities to sue the administration last week over what the lawsuit said was a “flagrantly unlawful” move to cut research funding.
On a more optimistic note, Harvard’s lawsuit against the Trump administration may have prompted the administration to be open to negotiating with the university in order to avoid a lengthy legal battle that could take years to play out and will likely go all the way up to the Supreme Court. An inside source reportedly told CNN that White House officials reached out to Harvard representatives three times in an effort to re-enter negotiations. Of course, the source noted that all of the alleged outreach attempts were informal, and a White House official told the network that “no meeting is under consideration at this time.” However, that official also said, “The President is always willing to meet with leaders from across the nation on issues he is focused on.”
As for the Harvard suit that has already been filed, CNN noted that the case has been assigned to US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs, who President Barack Obama nominated. In 2019, Burroughs upheld Harvard’s race-influenced admissions process, but that ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to end affirmative action in college admissions.
Welp, good luck, Harvard. Unless you’re an institution that is willing to help Trump make white nationalism and right-wing propaganda great again, you’re going to need it.
