Court ruling: Trump administration unlawfully cut Harvard funding

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump unlawfully terminated grants awarded to Harvard University worth approximately $2.2 billion and can no longer cut off research funding for the prestigious Ivy League school.

The decision by District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston marked a major legal victory for Harvard as it seeks to reach an agreement that could end the multi-front conflict between the White House and the nation's oldest and wealthiest university, Reuters reported.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school became the focus of the administration's campaign to leverage federal funding to drive changes at U.S. universities, which Trump says are plagued by antisemitic and "radically leftist" ideologies.

The administration canceled hundreds of grants to Harvard researchers on the grounds that the school had not done enough to address harassment of Jewish students on its campus.

Harvard sued, arguing that the Trump administration violated their free speech rights after they refused to comply with officials' demands to revise their governance, hiring, and academic programs to align with their ideological agenda.

Burroughs, appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed, saying that while Harvard had tolerated hatred for too long, the Trump administration "used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically motivated attack on the leading universities in this country."

She said the administration's pressure campaign resulted in the termination of Harvard's grants without due process and retaliation against the school in violation of their free speech rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Burroughs said it is the job of the courts to protect academic freedom and "ensure that important research is not improperly subjected to arbitrary and procedurally flawed grant terminations, even if that risks the wrath of a government committed to its agenda regardless of cost."

She barred the administration from cutting or freezing any additional federal funding for Harvard and blocked it from continuing to withhold payment of existing grants or refusing to award new funds to the school in the future.

White House spokesperson Liz Huston in a statement vowed to appeal the ruling of an "activist judge appointed by Obama," saying Harvard "has no constitutional right to taxpayer money and remains ineligible for grants in the future."
Harvard President Alan Garber in a message to the university community said the ruling "affirms our arguments in defense of the University's academic freedom, critical scientific research, and the fundamental principles of American higher education."

Garber did not mention the status of settlement negotiations with the administration, for which Trump during a cabinet meeting last week said he wanted Harvard to pay "no less than $500 million" because it had been "very bad."
Garber said that even if the school acknowledges the key principles affirmed by the ruling, Harvard will be "mindful of the changing environment in which we seek to fulfill our mission."

Three other Ivy League universities have reached agreements with the administration, including Columbia University, which in July agreed to pay $220 million to restore federal research funding that was withheld over allegations the university allowed antisemitism on campus.

As with Columbia, the Trump administration took action against Harvard in connection with the pro-Palestinian protest movement that rocked its campus and other universities following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's war in Gaza.

Harvard said it has taken steps to ensure its campus is welcoming to Jewish and Israeli students, who it acknowledges experienced "vicious and contemptible" treatment after the start of Israel's war in Gaza.
The administration's decision to cancel the grants was one of many measures it took against Harvard. It also sought to bar international students from attending the school, threatened Harvard's accreditation status, and paved the way for cutting further funds by determining it had violated federal civil rights law.

Burroughs in a separate case had already barred the administration from stopping Harvard's ability to host international students, who make up about a quarter of the college's student body.

Harvard pursued the grant litigation together with the college branch of the American Association of University Professors, which opposes the idea of the institution reaching an agreement with Trump.

"We hope this decision will make clear to the Harvard administration that negotiating away the rights of the Harvard community in a compromise with the government is unacceptable," the group's lawyers, Joseph Sellers and Corey Stoughton, said in a statement.