Priyanka Tiwari
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The legal and political battle against Harvard University escalated after the institution decided not to comply with sweeping directives from the Trump presidency. As a result, the White House launched a national discussion regarding autonomy and freedom in academic institutions by cutting over $2.2 billion in committed federal grants and contract funding.
Federal Funds Conditional on Obedience
The agreements included:
- Rescinding decision-making power from students and faculty
- Reporting foreign nationals enrolled in the program for disciplinary breaches
- Enforcing viewpoint diversity audits at an academic level
As these Harvard directives were viewed as unconstitutional Garber, Harvard’s president also remarked that university will ‘not surrender its independence and relinquish constitutional rights’.
Policies in Execution to Reshape Universities
- Plagiaristic faculty verification overrides, followed by complete rationing of diversity programming institution-wide
- Departmental audits of the Divinity School, Graduate School of Education, and School of Public Health
All these directives were tied to further access of federal funds.
Legal and Federal Retaliation Moves
In a retaliatory move, the government froze funding, cutting access to approximately $2.2 billion worth of grants and 60 million contracts.
With regards to the funding issue, Columbia University had already given in to such demands. Harvard’s rejection will likely motivate other institutions towards such a cause.
The proliferation of resistance throughout the academic sphere is illustrated with the lawsuit of nine other institutions which include MIT, Princeton, and Brown.
Academic Community Rallies Behind Harvard
More than 800 members of faculty of Harvard had previously signed an open letter calling for the opposition.
As a whole, the student body seems to be supportive, with a considerable number of students expressing gratitude at the hardline position taken by the institution.
Defiance Atelier termed Harvard's bold step as exemplary for other institutes and claimed it is better to be a good example than a Harvard.
Political Reactions and Broader Implications
With more criticism coming from elite institutions from the conservatives, Representative Elise Stefanik reiterated her stance for Harvard to be ‘totally defunded.’
The legal conflict now poses basic issues regarding:
The extend of federal authority over operations in institutions of higher learning.
The safeguarding of scholarly freedom.
The governance by the university of it's own internal procedures and syllabi.
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