Posted on 04/15/2025 1:35:10 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
On one side is Harvard, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, with a brand so powerful that its name is synonymous with prestige. On the other side is the Trump administration, determined to go further than any other White House to reshape American higher education.
Both sides are digging in for a clash that could test the limits of the government’s power and the independence that has made U.S. universities a destination for scholars around the world.
On Monday, Harvard became the first university to openly defy the Trump administration as it demands sweeping changes to limit activism on campus. The university frames the government’s demands as a threat not only to the Ivy League school but to the autonomy that the Supreme Court has long granted American universities.
“The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” the university’s lawyers wrote Monday to the government. “Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.”
The federal government says it’s freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard. The hold on funding marks the seventh time the Trump administration has taken such a step at one of the nation’s most elite colleges, in an attempt to force compliance with Trump’s political agenda. Six of the seven schools are in the Ivy League.
Harvard is uniquely equipped to push back
No university is better positioned to put up a fight than Harvard, whose $53 billion endowment is the largest in the nation. But like other major universities, Harvard also depends on the federal funding that fuels its scientific and medical research. It’s unclear how long Harvard could continue without the frozen money.
Already, Harvard’s refusal appears to be emboldening other institutions.
After initially agreeing to several demands from...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Is Haaavahd unaware that it's the government's money?
The acceptance of government financial help has always comes with strings attached. It’s why the decision to accept government funding been controversial for many decades.
This is nothing new.
That’s fine, they should be able to do what they want. What’s broken is that they think they have a claim to taxpayer money instead of money they earn themselves.
You can’t claim to be independant and also rely on government money...
As any Christian school can tell you, any government money comes with strings attached...
Actually its the taxpayers money, that Harvard has used to feed their habit.
Harvard may do whatever it wants with its money, as long as it is legal. Harvard has no claim on my money, and it is tyrannical of Harvard to think it does.
Harvard is the would-be tyrant. It is this central FL American citizen who speaks truth to power, and closes his wallet to tyrants.
“The acceptance of government financial help has always comes with strings attached.”
The strings are only attached to conservative activities and public K-12 education.
There used to be a cartoon shoring a demented fellow swimming in his toilet. He was reading up to the handle to flush
himself down the sewer.
It seems his name is Harvard …
Aren’t they providing their students with remedial math and reading!-)
Thank you.
Wait, why not explain why our money should be going to a private school?
Actually, since feral government spending is completely decoupled from income tax revenue and they spend however much they please, it's more like magic money, and they get it from us in the form of inflation, but I get your point and agree.
The writer should do some research into how the government enforced the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The racist slow walked compliance with desegregation laws.
Primarily medical & scientific research grants.
Harvard President Claudine Gay Proven Plagiarist Harvard President Claudine Gay Proven Plagiarist Harvard President Claudine Gay Proven Plagiarist Harvard President Claudine Gay Proven Plagiarist Harvard President Claudine Gay Proven Plagiarist Harvard President Claudine Gay Proven Plagiarist Harvard President Claudine Gay Proven Plagiarist Harvard President Claudine Gay Proven Plagiarist
Schools that accept federal money have to follow federal rules that protect groups from internal and third-party harassment.
Bull$hit! Harvard profited from the slave trade, and discriminates against whites and asians. Nothing prestigious about that.
so passe’.
claw the fed money back
bankrupt them
turn grounds into insane asylum and homeless shelter.
Why should my tax dollars be spent to benefit a school that will never benefit me or mine?
where in the constitution does it say we fund colleges?
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