Harvard University has sued the Donald Trump government on Monday for the temporary withdrawal of more than 2.2 billion dollars (about 1,930 million euros) in federal funds for the prestigious American institution, the most prominent step in a series of pressure measures ordered by the Republican administration against the leading educational center to force him to reduce what he considers activism in the campus. Taken a series of actions that Harvard refused to meet his illegal demands, ”said University’s rector Alan Garber, in a statement. “A few moments ago we have filed a lawsuit to block the withdrawal of funds, because it is illegal and exceeds the government’s powers.” Harvard’s demand, presented in Boston, specifically mentions, among others, to the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Department of Justice, the Energy and the Administration of General Services. The Trump Administration had sent a letter to the University with headquarters in Cambridge (state of Massachussetts), and one of the best in the world, to demand that it radically reform its student admission policy and their educational management. The government of the former real estate tycoon considers with horror that Harvard and other elite universities are a nest of progress that encourages the activism of teachers and students, especially antiisraeli activism, and that puts too much emphasis on accepting minority students. In particular the latter is something that stir the guts of this White House. The Republican Administration has among its absolute priorities to eliminate equality and diversity programs, with the argument that they promote discrimination (against the white and Christian major that among them there is a wide variety of opinions. If necessary, to foster that diversity of ideas, you should hire teachers and students of less present ideologies in Harvard. It also demanded hardness against activism, and that the admission of international students “hostile to US values” would veto. The attack against Harvard was not the first against an American university: the Department of Education has opened research under the pretext of anti -Semitism against more than 60 faculties and universities; At least 1,024 students of 1st faculties have seen their visas revoked or finished since the end of March. But this bundle of the administration against Harvard is the first in which the attacked institution has been reflected very strongly – it can be allowed: it is the richest and oldest in the country – against the claims of the White House. Others, such as the New York Columbia, chose to take out the white flag to the pressures and accept the demands of the administration, or to put on profile to avoid being the next objective. After Harvard’s proposal, other universities, such as Yale or Princeton, have supported it. A week, Garber declared that the university would not accept the demands of the government, which considers that they violate freedom of expression, protected by the first amendment of the Constitution, and that they would destroy the inquisitive and independent spirit that Harvard considers its mark of the house. Only hours later, the US administration froze the federal funds assigned to the Center for Higher Studies. And the next day, Trump himself lashed out at the university in his social network, Truth, to raise the possibility of withdrawing Harvard’s status as an exempt entity of the payment of taxes “if he continues to encourage political, ideological and inspired crazy things. And that seek to save American lives, encourage American success, protect US security and maintain the position of the United States as a global leader in innovation, ”says Harvard in his lawsuit. “Nor has it admitted the serious consequences that the indefinite freezing of billions of dollars in federal funds for research will lead to Harvard’s research programs, the beneficiaries of these investigations, and the national interest in extending US progress and innovation.” The university raises its pulse against the government as a struggle to defend itself not only to itself and the federal funds that it receives, but the autonomy of the university system American, pride of each center and that for decades have protected a sentence after judgment of the Supreme Court. “Today we are defending the values they have made of American higher education a lighthouse for everyone,” Garber said in a statement to the Harvard community. “We defend the truth that universities and faculties throughout the country can fulfill their legal obligations and their fundamental role in society as well as possible without the inadequate intrusion of the government,” he adds. “This is how we achieve academic excellence, we protect freedom of expression and exploration of ideas and carry out pioneering investigations.” (Tagstotranslate) United States
