Harvard and Trump administration's battle over freeze of $2B in grants will head into summer

BOSTON — The battle between Harvard University and the Trump administration's freeze on its $2.2 billion in grants will head into the summer.

A federal judge on Monday scheduled arguments for July 21 over the university's lawsuit against the government, after both sides met in court for the first time in a brief hearing.

Harvard sued April 21 after getting letters from the Trump administration calling for broad changes to government and leadership and to the university's admissions policies.

The administration also demanded the university audit views of diversity on campus and stop recognizing some student clubs. It has argued universities allowed antisemitism to go unchecked at campus protests last year against Israel’s war in Gaza.

Harvard President Alan Garber said the university would not bend to the demands.

Harvard presents the Trump administration's first major hurdle in its attempt to force change at universities that Republicans say have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism. A part of that is targeting research funding which has fueled scientific breakthroughs but has become an easy source of leverage for the Trump administration.

Harvard’s suit called the funding freeze “arbitrary and capricious,” saying it violated its First Amendment rights and the statutory provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.