How Harvard became the first university to push back against Trump’s campus crackdown
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How Harvard became the first university to fight back against Trump
- Harvard University is the first of six Ivy League schools in the US to formally oppose the Trump administration's demands to change their campus policies regarding antisemitism and diversity.
- The university refused to budge on key demands, including ending diversity programmes, screening international students for their views, and de-recognising pro-Palestine student groups.
- Harvard’s faculty is now suing the administration, claiming the demands violate the First Amendment and academic freedom.
- The university's president has said it will not surrender its independence, and no government should “dictate what private universities can teach [and] whom they can admit and hire”.
- The Trump administration froze US$2.2 billion in grants to Harvard in response, and the clash is likely to head to court.