Dozens of US universities, including Yale, Princeton and Harvard, today accused the Trump administration of attempting "political interference" by freezing and threatening to withdraw government grants unless reforms related to the war in Gaza are made.
We speak with one voice against the unprecedented government and political interference that threatens American higher education," said the nearly 100 signatories of this joint statement, which brings together university presidents and association leaders.
The Trump administration has been embroiled in a financial standoff for several weeks with several American universities, accused of allowing anti-Semitism to flourish in student protests against Israel's war in Gaza, where it is fighting the Islamist movement Hamas.
One of the most serious cases is that of Harvard University, to which the White House sent a letter earlier this month demanding broad government and leadership reforms at the university, as well as changes to its admissions policies, campus diversity and the end of recognition of some student clubs.
The demand was rejected by Harvard President Alan Garber, and hours later, the government froze billions of dollars in federal funding.
The university has filed a lawsuit to block the Trump administration's freeze of nearly €2 billion in state subsidies, arguing that "the government has not identified - and cannot identify - any rational connection between concerns about anti-Semitism and the medical, scientific, technological and other research it has frozen that is intended to save American lives, promote American success, preserve American security and maintain the United States' position as a global leader in innovation."
"This case concerns the government's efforts to use the freeze on federal subsidies as a means of gaining control over academic decisions at Harvard," the university said in a lawsuit filed in court, as cited by the AP.
Donald Trump has threatened to go even further by withdrawing Harvard's tax exemption, which he accused of spreading "hate and stupidity."
Republicans in the US Congress announced last week that they had launched an investigation into Harvard, accusing the university of violating equality laws.
In the letter announcing the opening of a congressional investigation, the university's president was accused of "failure to comply with civil rights laws" and, in particular, of discrimination based on race.
The university's rejection of Donald Trump was hailed by many faculty and students as a rare sign of defiance, while Columbia University in New York agreed to undertake reforms under pressure from the Republican.
Harvard's response was also welcomed by hundreds of faculty and several Democratic figures, including former President Barack Obama, who hailed the move as an example for other institutions to follow.
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