Harvard University has been hit with a $2.3bn federal funding freeze after the Ivy League institution took a stand against the Trump administration’s ongoing demands.
The freeze, representing 35.9 percent of Harvard’s $6.4bn operating expenses, immediately followed a letter on Monday from Harvard University lawyers to the Trump administration, stating that it rejected the government’s demands.
The letter, issued by Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and LLP King & Spalding LLP, said that “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
Harvard is the first university to take a stand against the government, which said it is investigating 60 universities over allegations of antisemitism. Several Ivy League schools have already had funding threatened or cancelled.
They’re grants. Universities are one of the foremost research institutions in the world. Not granting them additional research funds would basically mean we’re relying on donations or private research, which would be driven by profit potential instead of overall benefit to mankind.