Harvard Loses Federal Research Funding
On Tuesday, Harvard updated its lawsuit against the Trump administration, highlighting another cut of $450 million in research funding.
The Ivy League institution revealed it had adjusted its legal stance shortly after a federal task force focused on combating anti-Semitism, noting that eight federal agencies terminated approximately $450 million in grants due to what Harvard describes as “radical” and “dark issues” present on campus.
“Harvard University has consistently failed to address the widespread issues of racism and anti-Semitism that affect its community,” the task force stated.
This latest funding freeze adds to the prior suspension of $2.2 billion in university funding, coupled with threats from the Trump administration regarding the potential revocation of tax-exempt status.
Harvard’s president has claimed that this is essentially “basic retaliation” amid the ongoing fundraising disputes.
The university initially filed its lawsuit in April to counter the first $2.2 billion funding freeze.
In its recent legal filing, Harvard mentioned that much of the initially frozen funds are now unavailable.
A letter dated May 6 from the National Institutes of Health informed Harvard about cuts to grants related to allegations of anti-Semitism on campus. The lawsuit stated that typically, there would be an opportunity to rectify such issues, but it seems that was not the case here.
Following that, similar letters from various federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, informed Harvard of their intention to uphold these cuts, prompting the university to seek to reverse the decisions.
As challenges mount regarding fundraising under the Trump administration, Harvard President Alan Gerber has voluntarily agreed to a 25% reduction in salary during this period, according to a university spokesperson.
