The university Harvard rejected today (14/04/2025) the pressure of his government Donald Trumpwhich accuses it of allowing anti -Semitism to bloom and threatens to cut it almost $ 9 billion from the grant.
In a strict letter to the government of Donald Trump, which is signed by two lawyers and addressed to the Republican government, Harvard University, which is among the best universities in the world, assures that “it will not resign”.
“Neither Harvard nor any private university can allow the federal government to conquer it,” the lawyers added to the letter.
“Harvard is not willing to accept claims that go beyond the legal power of this government or any other.”
In early April, the government of President Donald Trump addressed several demands to the University’s administration, notably the end of the “Dei” programs (diversity, justice and inclusion) and changes to programs that “feed the anti -Semitic harassment”, according to a letter published by the Post.
The university, near Boston, in the northeast US, is the first to reject the government’s claims, despite the fact that it has to lose most – taking into account its funding.
Its lawyers say the university has taken significant measures in the last 15 months to combat anti -Semitism. “As a result, Harvard is in a very different position than a year ago,” they write.
According to lawyers, the government’s letter “ignores Harvard’s efforts and presents claims that, unlike the first amendment, violate the academic freedoms that have long guaranized the Supreme Court.”
The first amendment of the American Constitution guarantees fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression.
Following Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, the US government has targeted the country’s major universities, which were for more than a year, at various degrees, a student movement that called the Israeli war in Gaza.
The government has already cut $ 400 million for the same reasons to another major university, Columbia, in New York, which has begun in recent weeks of drastic reforms requested by the administration in an effort to regain these funds.