DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Harvard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Harvard</span></a> professors sue <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> administration over funding cut threats</p><p>by Katie Cole, April 14, 2025, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WBUR" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WBUR</span></a></p><p>"The Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors sued the Trump administration Friday over what they call an 'unlawful and unprecedented' attempt to use federal funding cuts to restrict <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeSpeech</span></a>.</p><p>"The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DepartmentOfEducation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DepartmentOfEducation</span></a> announced in late March that it would review $8.7 billion in federal grants and contacts given to Harvard, alleging that the school failed to prevent <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/antisemitic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>antisemitic</span></a> discrimination on campus.</p><p>"The Trump administration then unveiled a broad set of demands on April 4 the university must agree to in order to keep getting federal funding, including cutting all diversity, equity and inclusion programming, and modifying any programming and departments that 'fuel antisemitic harassment.' The administration gave Columbia University a similar set of demands in March, which the school agreed to.</p><p>"The lawsuit by the professors' group, filed in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Massachusetts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Massachusetts</span></a> federal court, alleges that the administration's federal funding review violates the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TitleVI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TitleVI</span></a> of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilRightsAct" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CivilRightsAct</span></a>, which prohibits discrimination in programs that receive federal funds. The court filing says the law requires specific procedures to cut federal funds and that the Trump administration has not taken any of those steps.</p><p>"The group said in a press release that the administration's actions are in effort to create a chilling effect among universities and faculty to stop speech that the president does not like.</p><p>" 'Eliminating discrimination and protecting all students is important,' said Nikolas Bowie, a Harvard law professor and the secretary-treasurer of the school's <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AAUP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AAUP</span></a> chapter, in a statement. 'But Trump is defying the Civil Rights Act, terrifying students, and illegally holding hostage grants for hospitals and scientific research so he can accomplish his real goal of punishing academics for our politics.'</p><p>"The lawsuit says that the actions by the administration have 'already caused severe and irreparable harm by halting <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/academic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>academic</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/research" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>research</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/inquiry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>inquiry</span></a> at Harvard.'</p><p>"This is the second suit that the Harvard AAUP chapter has filed against the Trump administration this year. The first was a joint suit with other chapters, including one from Columbia, over federal efforts to deport <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MahmoudKhalil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MahmoudKhalil</span></a> and students that engaged in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ProPalestinian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ProPalestinian</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/activism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>activism</span></a>."</p><p><a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/04/14/harvard-aaup-trump-funding-cuts-lawsuit" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">wbur.org/news/2025/04/14/harva</span><span class="invisible">rd-aaup-trump-funding-cuts-lawsuit</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CharacteristicsOfFascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CharacteristicsOfFascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Authoritarian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Authoritarian</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Authoritarianism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Authoritarianism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BibiIsAWarCriminal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BibiIsAWarCriminal</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeMahmoudKhalil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeMahmoudKhalil</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreePalestine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreePalestine</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AcademicFreedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AcademicFreedom</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TrumpIsABully" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TrumpIsABully</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DEI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DEI</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Erasure" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Erasure</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a></p>