Established in 1636, Harvard University is one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world. It has produced several Nobel Prize winners and eight American presidents. However, the current US President, Donald Trump, has declared Harvard “a joke” – one does not find him funny. According to Trump, the university teaches and hires “hatred and stupidity” “awake, radical leftist, stupid.” This, he said in a post on his own social media platform, Truth Social in mid -April that Harvard should “no longer get federal money”.Government agencies immediately freeze $ 2.2 billion (about € 2.2 billion), which was determined to the university. Then, in May, a government antismitism task force informed the university leadership that an additional $ 450 million funding was also being cut.On Thursday, 22 May, the Trump administration further carried forward the struggle. US Homeland Security Secretary, Christie Nom issued a letter in which the university license was canceled to enroll foreign students. Harvard was given a 72-hour time limit to the administration to provide specific information about foreign students if she wants to re-acquire her license.Harvard immediately sued the administration, and the next day scored an initial legal victory when US District Judge Elison D. Baroz found in favor of the university. He accepted its argument that the government order would cause Harvard to be “immediate and irreparable injury”, and temporarily blocked the order to pending another hearing.
What is the justification of Trump administration for its actions?
As Trump has repeatedly indicated by himself and many of him, he is upset that, in his eyes, Harvard’s teaching and research dominates leftist materials and ideologies. However, the US Constitution clarifies that the government can only restrict the freedom of speech in very specific examples. Last month, over 100 US universities signed an open letter, citing the constitution, and “opposed the overrech and political intervention of the unprecedented government.,The legal excuse for funding cuts is the Palestinian performance that has occurred in many American universities as a response to the Israeli war against Hamas. The war is Israel’s response to the terrorist attack on the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023. There have been many reports that Jewish students have been targeted in antisementic attacks during protests in the United States. Along with the US, Germany, Israel and other countries, Hamas depicts Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Why does the US government have Harvard in its scenic spots?
The new US government has withdrawn funding from around 60 universities, or threatened to do so. For example, in March, it pulled a $ 400 million federal funding from Columbia University in New York, accusing the university’s leadership of “continuous inactivity before the frequent harassment of Jewish students”.Colombia sued the administration for canceling funding, but followed several other government demands, such as wearing masks during protests, hiring new security personnel and changing the management of the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies. Despite this, the US Health and Human Services Department still upheld the allegation of inaction.Harvard, which is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a suburb outside Boston, so far the only university to openly oppose the demands of the administration. For the reason why it can take the risk of challenging the government, it is that it has a settlement of more than $ 50 billion. This settlement can now be targeted by the government.
What would be the new measures for Harvard?
If the administration is successful in blocking Harvard by admission to international students, one result would be that many international students will lose their American residence permits, unless they are able to enroll in a separate university.This will not only deprive Harvard from international talent. The university has around 6,800 non-American citizens nominated, who receive about $ 400 million per year at tuition fees. The fee is the same for American students – approximately $ 59,000 per year – but many are awarded scholarships that fund the university. Overall, Harvard so earn more than international students than American people.The US government is also considering implementing heavy taxes on capital gains from university settlements. Endowment funds are mainly invested in securities, yielding hundreds of million per year. During his first term in the office, Trump introduced a capital gains tax of 1.4% for universities, with endowments more than $ 500,000 per student. Now, he proposes to connect further levels, and for capital gains on settlement in the highest category – more than $ 2 million per student – to be taxed at 21%.In the USA Today National Newspaper, The Economist Philip Levin estimated that the University of Yale, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, and of course, may face each tax bill between $ 400 and $ 850 million per year under the new scheme, such as elite University, like Harvard.
What is the demand of the US government Harvard?
According to a letter sent by the three government agencies to the university administration, the US government is demanding that Harvard implements extensive reforms by August 2025, believing what it considers as dominance of leftist ideologies in Harvard faculties.These reforms include introduction of new guidelines to limit the “power” of students and faculty, especially those university employees “are more committed to activism than scholarship.” Jobs and study places, stated in the letter, should be honored completely on the basis of merit in the future: the university should “stop all priorities based on breed, color, religion, sex or national origin.” Programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are to be discontinued.Furthermore, it says, the range of approaches represented by reforms will be widespread, and students’ entry of “hostile” for “American values and institutions” will be prevented.It is not clear what will happen next. Judge Baroz, who temporarily blocked the government order on Friday, has set a hearing to decide whether the grip should be extended on May 29 or not. This can probably be a long legal battle.
