Key points
- Lawsuit filed with Massachusetts federal court
- Govt actions flout First Amendment: Harvard
- Harvard must impose tougher discipline on protesters: Trump admin
ISLAMABAD: Harvard sued US President Donald Trump’s administration Monday in a sharp escalation of the fight between the prestigious university and the Republican, who has threatened its funding and sought to impose outside political supervision.
AFP reported that Trump has sought to bring several prestigious universities to heel over claims they tolerated campus protests, threatening their budgets, tax-exempt status and the enrollment of foreign students, but Harvard has refused to bow.
“This case involves the Government’s efforts to use the withholding of federal funding as leverage to gain control of academic decision making at Harvard,” the Ivy League university said in a lawsuit filed in a Massachusetts federal court that named several other institutions targeted by Trump.
First Amendment
“The Government’s actions flout not just the First Amendment, but also federal laws and regulations.” Many US universities, including Harvard, cracked down on the protests over the allegations at the time, with the Cambridge-based institution placing 23 students on probation and denying degrees to 12 others.
AP reported that in its letter earlier this month, the Trump administration told Harvard to impose tougher discipline on protesters and to screen international students for those who are “hostile to the American values.”
It also called for broad leadership reforms at the university, admissions policy changes and the end of college recognition for some student clubs.
