Federal Judge reverses Trump cuts on grants for Harvard

Guwahati: In what could be termed as an affront on US President Donald Trump, a federal judge in Boston on Wednesday gave a judgement that “reverses his administration’s cuts to more than $2.6 billion in funding research grants for Harvard University," reports AP.

US District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that the cuts were illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection of White House demands for changes to its governance and policies.

The ruling marks a triumph for Harvard which was embroiled in a fierce battle with the administration.  

The Trump diktat also barred Harvard from hosting foreign students and even its  tax-exempt status was under threat.

The ruling also turns around funding freezes which were cuts as the Trump administration aggravated  its fight with US’ richest university.

Given a scenario that the ruling stands, Harvard’s sprawling research operation and hundreds of projects that lost federal money would get a rebirth.

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Harvard’s lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration embarked on a retaliation campaign against the university after the latter rejected demands in an April 11 letter from a federal antisemitism task force.

Beyond the court Harvard President Alan Garber swore to fight antisemitism but said that no government “should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

But as of now, it's Harvard which has 'trumped' Trump.