Harvard takes lead in fight against Trump's higher ed agenda

After weeks of higher education playing defense against an aggressive Trump administration, Harvard University is now taking point on fighting back.

The university — the oldest in America and richest in the world — is offering a rallying point for other colleges with its Monday lawsuit against the administration, a sharp counterpoint to other schools, particularly fellow Ivy League institution Columbia University, that have sought to cut deals and work with President Trump.

“If Harvard prevails in court and shows that these are unjustified but also illegal and unconstitutional assaults on academic freedom, then it'll give more, I think, leeway for other colleges and universities to be able to continue doing the life-saving research and groundbreaking academic exploration,” said Mike Zamore, national director of policy and government affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

On the other hand, Zamore said, "if the administration is successful" in court, it will be "able to use these sources of funding as leverage to try to, essentially, ensure compliance with their thoughts and world views."

In that case, he added, "It's going to be really hard for colleges that don't have the resources of Harvard University to stand strong."

After the school rejected a list of demands from the administration, which included eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs and changes to admission and hiring practices, the White House responded by freezing billions of dollars in federal funding, calling for Harvard's tax-exempt status to be revoked and threatening its ability to enroll international students.

In its lawsuit, Harvard accuses the administration of violating its First Amendment rights and asks a judge to declare the demands illegal and restore its funding.

“To date, the Government has — with little warning and even less explanation — slashed billions of dollars in federal funding to universities across America, including Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern,” the lawsuit reads.   

“All told, the tradeoff put to Harvard and other universities is clear: Allow the Government to micromanage your academic institution or jeopardize the institution’s ability to pursue medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and innovative solutions,” the lawsuit said.   

The day after the suit was filed, the leaders of more than 100 colleges and universities, including Cornell, Tufts and Princeton, issued a joint letter condemning Trump's "political interference" and "coercive use of public research funding."

"Had Harvard not taken that step, we would definitely not have seen that kind of unified response. And so, these are the developments that help, in the end, ensure that our freedoms are protected,” Zamore said.

The fight with Harvard is part of the president’s long-standing animosity toward higher education, which plays well with his base as many Republicans see universities as inculcating students with “leftist ideology.”  

“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should not longer receive Federal Funds,” Trump wrote on social media last week. 

“Leftist dopes,” the president continued, “are teaching at Harvard, and because of that, Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges.” 

The Trump administration alleges its actions are in response to Harvard's and other schools' failure to adequately confront antisemitism on their campuses. Trump's anti-college rhetoric, however, rarely focuses on antisemitic activity specifically, and many of his demands appear completely unrelated to the issue.

“There may be significant evidence that Harvard, Columbia and other institutions fell out of compliance with Title VI,” said Tyler Coward, lead counsel for government affairs at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. However, “the government hasn't done its homework here,” he added, 

“There are existing processes and procedures required by law that the administration is flouting to unilaterally cancel contracts and punish institutions for alleged violations of Title VI and anyone concerned with due process or free speech or academic freedom rights should be concerned by the government flouting the rule of law in search of expedient resolutions," Coward said.  

Harvard took a different route against the administration after watching the debacle at Columbia University, where the federal government withdrew $400 million in federal funding. Columbia was presented with demands similar in nature to those given to Harvard but opted to capitulate instead of fight with the hopes funding would get restored.

But the Trump administration has not restarted the federal funding and has, in fact, taken even more money from Columbia since it announced it would comply.

Prominent Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe addressed the issue Tuesday on CNN, comparing Trump's actions against his school to those of a dictator.

“I think that Harvard is encouraging many others to stand up because when we will, and we will, they will realize that going along with dictatorial demands doesn’t get them anywhere,” Tribe said.

“If you stand up for your rights, resist, use the legal system, it’s surprising how well you can do,” he added.