Audio By Carbonatix
Harvard University asked a federal judge on Monday to issue a summary judgment ruling to unfreeze $2.5 billion in funding blocked by President Donald Trump's administration, which Harvard said was illegal.
Harvard's filing in the U.S. District Court in Boston said that it had received 957 orders since April 14 to freeze funding for research pertaining to national security threats, cancer and infectious diseases and more, since the country's oldest and wealthiest school rejected a White House list of demands.
The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard - and other top-level universities across the U.S. - because, in his view, they have been captured by leftist "woke" thought and become bastions of antisemitism.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs has set arguments for July 21 on Harvard's motion for summary judgment, which is a request for a judge to decide a dispute without a trial to determine material facts.
Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, alleging the funding freeze violated the school's right to free speech and was arbitrary and capricious.
In Monday's court filing, Harvard detailed the terminated grants, including $88 million for research into pediatric HIV, $12 million for increasing Defense Department awareness of emerging biological threats and $8 million to better understand dark energy. The school said ending the funding would destroy ongoing research into cancer treatments, infectious disease and Parkinson's.
The Trump administration has opened numerous investigations into Harvard. Some are looking at threats against Jewish students and faculty after pro-Palestinian protests broke out following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza.
Other investigations are probing whether Harvard discriminates based on sex and gender, along with the school's ties to foreign governments and international students.
The Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students last month, which a judge temporarily blocked after Harvard sued in a separate case.
Harvard and other universities say Trump's attacks are threats to freedom of speech and freedom of academics, as well as threats to the schools' very existence.
Latest Stories
-
Mohammed Kudus drops out of Ghana squad for AFCON 2027 qualifiers against Côte d’Ivoire and Gambia
21 minutes -
Africa World Airlines unveils first Embraer E190 as part of 10-aircraft fleet expansion
1 hour -
Civilian hospitalised after alleged machete attack by prison officers, inmates
2 hours -
Toobu rejects calls to recall Parliament over 3.9-tonne cocaine shipment
2 hours -
Residents in 5 Northern Regions warned of approaching rainstorm
2 hours -
Constituency Games still a work in progress – Sports Minister
3 hours -
Team Ghana set for historic Karting Africa Showrun in Angola
3 hours -
52-year-old South African arrested with suspected heroin after arriving from Accra
3 hours -
Shatta Wale challenges UPSA students to build entrepreneurial mindsets
4 hours -
Finance Minister advises African governments to strengthen regional tax cooperation
5 hours -
NPP accuses NDC of master-minding demolition of Ho regional office fence
5 hours -
Ghana plans stronger regional power trade with Nigeria
5 hours -
GRA Commissioner-General calls for stronger tax cooperation to boost regional revenue mobilisation
5 hours -
NACOC needs more personnel to tackle drug trafficking – Toobu
5 hours -
Railway workers resist KMA eviction order, demand consultation
5 hours