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Eighteen universities — including five Ivy League institutions and MIT — plan to submit an amicus brief in support of Harvard’s legal challenge to the Trump administration’s freeze on nearly $3 billion in federal research funding.
The coordinated effort is the latest show of support for Harvard in its battle with the federal government — and a rare move by peer universities to throw their names directly behind one side in a political standoff. The signatories, many of them major recipients of federal research grants, cast the lawsuit as a critical moment for the future of academic research in the United States.
In a five-page motion on Friday requesting permission to submit the brief, the universities argued that the funding cuts, though directed at Harvard, could upend research efforts well beyond Harvard’s campus.
“The cuts will disrupt ongoing research, ruin experiments and datasets, destroy the careers of aspiring scientists, and deter long-term investment at universities across the country,” the proposed amici wrote.
The universities contested the brief would provide a “broader perspective” on the nationwide impact of the freeze, which has already affected several institutions beyond Harvard. Many signatories have seen their own federal funding come under scrutiny in recent months — whether singled out for punitive treatment or simply impacted by the Trump administration’s sweeping effort to root out grants for projects that might clash with its agenda.
The judge overseeing Harvard’s case agreed on Friday to allow the amicus brief, but the universities have not yet submitted it. According to the filing, the Trump administration did not oppose the request, and Harvard consented to it.
Columbia University, the first school to face targeted funding cuts under the administration, did not join the filing. Columbia conceded to several Trump administration demands in March, agreeing to hire additional security personnel with the authority to arrest students, make drastic changes to the school’s disciplinary process, and ban face masks during demonstrations — many of the same conditions levied upon Harvard before it filed suit.
Cornell University, which was hit with $1 billion in frozen funding in April, also did not sign the motion.
But Dartmouth College, the only Ivy League school that has not faced targeted funding cuts, was listed as an amicus. Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock was the only Ivy League leader who declined to sign an April 22 letter that condemned the Trump administration’s funding cuts and endorsed Harvard’s defiance.
The planned amicus brief supports Harvard’s May 30 request for summary judgement, which asks the judge to resolve the case without proceeding to trial. Harvard first sued the administration on April 21 following an initial $2.2 billion cut in funding but has expanded its complaint as the Trump administration slashed another $450 million in May and cut Harvard off from future grants.
The 18 universities argued in their Thursday filing that the White House’s actions threatened to sever a decades-old partnership between universities and the federal government that has fueled American scientific and technological innovation.
“Academic research is an interconnected enterprise,” the motion read. “The elimination of funding at Harvard negatively impacts the entire ecosystem.”
Earlier this week, Harvard told research institutions across 32 states that it would have to discontinue funding more than 570 subawards previously backed by federal dollars.
The amici only sought to join Harvard’s federal funding lawsuit and have not asked to submit a brief for the University’s separate lawsuit over the visa status of its international students.
The Friday filing is the latest effort by outside groups seeking to weigh in on the high-profile case. A slew of other organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Cato Institute, and Columbia Alumni for Academic Freedom, requested on Thursday to submit an amicus brief.
The Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee — which mounted the 20-day encampment in Harvard Yard last spring — also filed a motion last week seeking to support the University in court. The PSC’s proposed brief is expected to argue that pro-Palestine advocacy, including anti-Israel language, does not meet the legal standard for discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Oral arguments for the case are set to begin on July 21.
—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.
—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.
