Universities are beginning to push back on the Trump administration’s war on research and higher education.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and other scholarly associations have filed a series of lawsuits against Trump administration attacks on research funding, research centers, libraries, museums, and universities.

Now, Harvard University is resisting the Trump administration’s sweeping pressure campaign against this elite private university.

“Harvard University said on Monday that it had rejected policy changes requested by the Trump administration, becoming the first university to directly refuse to comply with the administration’s demands and setting up a showdown between the federal government and the nation’s wealthiest university,” according to The New York Times.

“Other universities have pushed back against the Trump administration’s interference in higher education. But Harvard’s response, which essentially called the Trump administration’s demands illegal, marked a major shift in tone for the nation’s most influential school, which has been criticized in recent weeks for capitulating to Trump administration pressure.”

The New York Times reports that “A letter the Trump administration sent to Harvard on Friday demanded that the university reduce the power of students and faculty members over the university’s affairs; report foreign students who commit conduct violations immediately to federal authorities; and bring in an outside party to ensure that each academic department is ‘viewpoint diverse,’ among other steps. The administration did not define what it meant by viewpoint diversity, but it has generally referred to seeking a range of political views, including conservative perspectives.”

“‘No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,’ said Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, in a statement to the university on Monday.”

Patel, Vimal. “Harvard Says It Will Not Comply With Trump Administration’s Demands.” The New York Times (14 April 2025).