Judge Hands Victory to Harvard in Funding Lawsuit, Ruling Trump Administration’s Freeze Unconstitutional

September 03, 2025 1 min read

Dhruv T. Patel, Avani B. Rai, and Saketh Sundar, Crimson Staff Writers
Harvard Crimson 

Excerpt: A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration violated the Constitution when it froze more than $2.6 billion in research funding to Harvard, striking down the freeze in its entirety and delivering the University a major legal victory.

The decision from United States District Judge Allison D. Burroughs hands Harvard a summary judgment win on core constitutional grounds, finding that the administration’s freeze orders were retaliation for protected speech. She also found that the government failed to comply with Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which requires agencies to give notice, investigation, and an opportunity to respond before terminating federal financial assistance over civil rights violations.

Click here for link to full article 


Leave a comment


Also in National Free Speech News & Commentary

‘We Lost Our Mission’: Three University Leaders on the Future of Higher Ed

November 18, 2025 1 min read

Ariel Kaminer, Sian Beilock, Jennifer L. Mnookin and Michael S. Roth
New York Times

Excerpt: It’s an eventful moment in American higher education: The Trump administration is cracking down, artificial intelligence is ramping up, varsity athletes are getting paid and a college education is losing its status as the presumptive choice of ambitious high school seniors. 

 To tell us what’s happening now and what might be coming around the corner, three university leaders — Sian Beilock, the president of Dartmouth; Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan; and Jennifer Mnookin, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison — spoke with Ariel Kaminer, an editor at Times Opinion.

Read More
McMahon Breaks Up More of the Education Department

November 18, 2025 1 min read

Jessica Blake
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: The Education Department is planning to move TRIO and numerous other higher education programs to the Labor Department as part of a broader effort to dismantle the agency and “streamline its bureaucracy.”

Instead of moving whole offices, the department detailed a plan Tuesday to transfer certain programs and responsibilities to other agencies. All in all, the department signed six agreements with four agencies, relocating a wide swath of programs.

Read More
Judge indefinitely bars Trump from fining UC over alleged discrimination

November 15, 2025 1 min read

Associated Press/NPR

Excerpt: The Trump administration cannot fine the University of California or summarily cut the school system's federal funding over claims it allows antisemitism or other forms of discrimination, a federal judge ruled late Friday in a sharply worded decision.

Read More