The prestigious Harvard University rejected the requirements of the Trump administration on Monday, which accuses it of letting anti -Semitism prosper and threatens to cut almost $ 9 billion in grants.
In a very firm letter signed by two lawyers from the University and addressed to the Republican Administration, Harvard, regularly classified among the best establishments in the world, assures that it “will not abdicate its independence or its rights guaranteed by the Constitution”.
“Neither Harvard nor any private university can let the federal government seize it,” added lawyers in the missive. “Harvard is not ready to accept requirements that go beyond the legitimate authority of this administration or any other.”
In early April, the administration of President Donald Trump had transmitted several requirements to the management of the university, including the end of “DEI” programs (diversity, equity and inclusion) and changes in programs that “feed anti -Semitic harassment”, according to a letter published by the Washington Post.
The university, located near Boston (northeast), is the first to repel the requirements of power, even though it has the most to lose given its funding.
His lawyers assure that the university has taken important measures for 15 months to fight anti -Semitism. “As a result, Harvard is in a very different situation from a year ago,” they write.
According to them, the letter from the administration “ignores Harvard’s efforts and presents requirements which, in contradiction with the first amendment, encroach on university freedoms guaranteed for a long time by the Supreme Court”.
The first amendment of the American Constitution guarantees fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of expression.
Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, in January, the American government has targeted the major universities of the country, theaters in various degrees for more than a year of a student movement against the war waged by Israel in Gaza.
The government has already cut $ 400 million in subsidies for the same reasons for another prestigious university, that of Columbia in New York, which has initiated drastic reforms requested by the administration in recent weeks to try to recover these funds.
