Harvard University was established in 1636, making it the oldest institution of higher education in America. Having an acceptance rate of only 3.5% as of 2023, Harvard is considered one of the most prestigious universities in the U.S.
According to The Harvard Gazette, President Trump’s Administration had plans to freeze over $2.2 billion in federal research grants towards Harvard University, in retaliation for Harvard’s refusal to comply with a list of demands issued by an Anti-semitism task force. As stated by Chalkbeat, to freeze federal research grants basically means to block research funding.
Blocking research funding highly affects mainly medical and scientific research at Harvard Medical School. Due to the effects this would have on the university, the official Harvard website, the Harvard Gazette, states that Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration on April 21, 2025, arguing that its freeze on research funding is unconstitutional and “flatly unlawful”, calling on the court to restore more than $2.2 billion in research dollars. But this did not stop the administration.
A few hours after Harvard’s rejection of the White House’s demands, the administration announced that in addition to freezing $2.2 billion in funding, it would also consider revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status and threatening the education of international students. Alan Garber, President of Harvard University, says that the administration was also considering freezing an additional $1 billion in funding on top of the $2.2 billion.
Garber states that the administration broke the First Amendment. An example of this is that it protects the right to freedom of speech against government interference. According to theguardian.com, the university wrote a letter announcing the decision to reject Trump’s demands. In the letter, Garber states, “No government—regardless of which party in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
Dr. Alan Garber, researchers, faculty, students, and lawyers from Harvard were all impacted and/or involved in why Harvard sued the Trump Administration.
As stated in the article by theguardian.com, after months of student activism centered around the war in Gaza, the Trump Administration has tried to adjust the campus protests as “anti-American.” This is another example of how Garber felt like The White House was making an attack on the First Amendment.
Staff writers Dhruv T. Patel, Avani B, and Saketh Sundarn, of the Harvard Crimson, announced that a federal judge ruled that the Trump Administration violated the Constitution when they froze more than $2.6 billion in research funding to Harvard. The federal judge, Allison D. Burroughs, granted Harvard the win after she found that the administration’s freeze orders were unconstitutional and an attack on protected speech. She also finds that the government failed to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal financial assistance.
As of September 3rd, Burroughs ruled in favor of Harvard, allowing them the victory of the lawsuit against the Trump Administration.
