It is not a surprise to many that the new president of the United States, Donald Trump, has come to power with controversy. Besides his policies, a point of friction has recently arisen between the president and certain universities across the nation, including Harvard University. This began when the president repeatedly threatened to cut off funding for various universities if they did not comply with his demands.
This began when Harvard University received a letter from the U.S. government stating that the school has in recent years failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment. The letter was then followed with a list of demands including things like ending all affirmative action in faculty hiring and student admissions; changing the admissions process “to prevent admitting international students hostile to the American values,” including students that are “supportive of terrorism or antisemitism;” changing rules to forbid the funding and recognition of student groups or clubs that promote “criminal activity, illegal violence or illegal harassment;” and implementing a mask ban that includes penalties for those who violate it and ending all diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
These demands certainly did not come without backlash. Harvard University decided to refuse to comply with these demands, and subsequently had over $2 billion of federal funding frozen. Although a large amount of money for such a well-known program might not seem like a big deal, the deeper implications concern many. Firstly, the ideology of having an independent academic institution do what the government says or “pay the price” frightens many. The precedent hidden behind the demands certainly seems to weigh what President Trump wants over any educational value that may be at stake. Moreover, the unique research and education benefits the institution provides are definitely real. Other than hosting some of the brightest students from around the world, Harvard University is famous for its research and development across a wide range of important categories like medications and medical technology that help to save lives every day. Furthermore, the university’s important technology fields like quantum computing and robotics are just as well known. In short words, Harvard University is famous for research and development in almost every category you can think of. All of this important research is actively being affected by the budget freeze, through things like slowing research, a lack of materials and in some cases, programs almost having to shut down altogether. All of this begs the question, is it really worth it?
With so much at stake, it is almost a guarantee that Harvard is not going to sit by and watch what they believe are their rights being unreasonably infringed upon. The university, along with the support from many others, has opened a lawsuit against the Trump Administration stating that the funding freeze would hamper critical disease research. In response to the lawsuit, the White House said the “gravy train of federal assistance” was over. The university also claims that the withholding of funding is a violation of Harvard’s constitutional rights and is only a tool to gain control of academic decision-making. At the end of the day, Harvard is one of the many worldwide academically influential institutions that provide critical research that is being affected by Trump’s demands. As for the White House, they say another billion dollars could be frozen soon.
