In a major legal win for Harvard University, an American federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully froze over USD two billion in federal research funding to the Ivy League school, CNN reported.
US District Judge Allison Burroughs issued the ruling on Wednesday, calling out what she described as an “ideologically driven” move made in the garb of a crackdown on campus antisemitism.
“A review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targetted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities,” Obama-appointed judge wrote, per CNN.
Judge Burroughs further said, “Their actions have jeopardised decades of research and the welfare of all those who could stand to benefit from that research.”
Impacted Projects Had No Link to Antisemitism, Judge Says
She also cited several federally funded research projects that were affected — right from suicide prevention tools for veterans to studies on Lou Gehrig’s disease and radiation exposure for NASA astronauts.
“There is no obvious link between the affected projects and antisemitism,” she noted, while also wiping away the Trump administration’s ‘Freeze Order’ and barring any future retaliation against the university for exercising its First Amendment rights.
White House Plans to Appeal
Accusing the judge of practising bias, the White House spokesperson Liz Huston reportedly said, “This activist Obama-appointed judge was always going to rule in Harvard’s favour, regardless of the facts,”
“To any fair-minded observer, it is clear that Harvard University failed to protect their students from harassment,” CNN quoted Huston as saying.
Harvard Celebrates Ruling but Stays Cautious
Harvard President Alan Garber welcomed the decision, calling it a validation of the university’s academic freedom and commitment to research.
“We will continue to assess the implications of the opinion, monitor further legal developments, and be mindful of the changing landscape,” Garber reportedly said.
Noting Harvard’s past failures in addressing antisemitism, the judge further warned that constitutional rights can’t be violated in the name of combating hate.
“Combatting antisemitism cannot be accomplished on the back of the First Amendment,” she wrote.
Other Universities Settle as Trump Team Escalates Pressure
Meanwhile, other elite American universities including Columbia and Brown have settled with the Trump administration. The White House is reportedly seeking a USD one billion settlement from UCLA.
