Harvard, Trump lawyers take funding fight to court
In a hearing held yesterday, the judge overseeing the case seemed sceptical of the move to freeze more than US$2bn in federal grants for the university in a stated effort to fight antisemitism, reports BBC.
Judge Allison Burroughs questioned how denying money allocated for medical research would stop
antisemitism while calling the government's claims "mind-boggling".
However, the lawyers for Trump argued that the cuts are deserved and necessary to punish anti Jewish bias.
The closely watched case comes as the White House also moves to prevent the university from accessing a visa system that allows it to enrol foreign students.
Judge Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, has already made several interim rulings in favour of Harvard in a separate lawsuit over the foreign student visa system.
However, in the battle over funding, Harvard has asked the judge to reach a decision by September three - the deadline set by the Trump administration to the university to wind up its financial obligations with regards to federal grants.
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Business Standard
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- Business Standard
US-Indonesia trade deal shows risks of pressure, India must be wary: GTRI
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Indian Express
14 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Harvard publisher cancels journal issue on Palestine, cites ‘a number of complex issues'
In the wake of the standoff between United States administration and Harvard University, the Harvard Education Publishing Group, a prestigious American education journal's publisher, last month, abruptly canceled the release of a special issue titled, 'education and Palestine,' The Guardian reported. The special issue, which was set to be published this summer was almost ready, as contracts with most authors were finalized and articles were edited, the report noted. On June 9, in an email to the issue's contributors, the publisher cited 'a number of complex issues', taking authors and editors by surprise, The Guardian learnt. This remarkable move comes amid an escalation of United States' confrontation with Harvard University, where it has warned that the elite institution could lose its accreditation over allegations related to 'antisemitism' on campus. Officials have accused elite universities in the US of fostering leftist ideologies and failing to protect Jewish students amid brewing tensions on campus. What did the special issue entail? The special issue of the journal covered topics such as the annihilation of Gaza's schools to the challenges of teaching about Israel and Palestine in the US. The issue was intended to promote 'scholarly conversation on education and Palestine amid repression, occupation, and genocide,' as per internal emails accessed by The Guardian. It included research articles, essays and other writings on topics ranging from education in Israel-Palestine and among the Palestinian diaspora, to academic freedom in the US. The journal articles explored the evolution of the concept of 'scholasticide', a term describing the systematic annihilation of education, first coined during Israel's 2008 invasion of Gaza; the 'ethical and educational responsibilities' of English language teachers in the West Bank; and the impact of 'crackdowns on dissent' on teaching about Palestine in US higher education institutions, according to finalized abstracts of the articles shared with The Guardian. What did the cancellation email state? The email sent to the body of authors and editors, announcing the cancellation of the issue, did not exactly cite 'antisemitism' as its reason. The executive director of the publishing group, Jessica Fiorillo, wrote that the decision stemmed from an 'inadequate review process' and the need for 'considerable copy editing'. Intimating them that the issue was being pulled altogether, Fiorillo claimed the manuscripts were 'unready for publication', in part due to a copy editor's resignation. She also cited an unspecified 'failure to adhere to an adequate review process', a 'lack of internal alignment' between the authors, editors and the publisher, and 'the lack of a clear and expedient path forward to resolving the myriad issues at play'. 'This difficult situation is exacerbated by very significant lack of agreement about the path forward, including and especially whether to publish such a special issue at this time,' she wrote in her email, as seen by The Guardian. She added that the cancellation was not 'due to censorship of a particular viewpoint nor does it connect to matters of academic freedom'. Chronology of the cancellation The speculations began when Rabea Eghbariah, a Palestinian doctoral candidate at Harvard Law School, and the writer of the afterword for the special issue, requested to amend his contract with the Harvard Educational Review (HER) to add a clause seeking to safeguard his academic freedom, which was later declined by the journal. Days later, the journal's editorial board wrote to the authors, citing an 'increasingly challenging climate' and asking for their availability for a meeting, which never ended up happening, as per The Guardian report. However, this was not the first time the publisher tried to pressurise the journal editors. In January this year, the editors were told that an 'institutional review' of the manuscripts would be required. Moreover, in February, the publisher attempted to alter the back cover of the spring issue promoting some of the forthcoming articles. As per an editor quoted by The Guardian, the publisher acknowledged that it was seeking a 'risk assessment' legal review by Harvard's counsel out of fear the issue's publication would prompt 'antisemitism' claims, which authors and editor referred to as an 'unprecedented' at that stage of publication. 'This sends a dangerous message to scholars globally: that academic publishing contracts are conditional, revocable, and subject to external political calculations,' they wrote in a letter to the journal's editorial board and publisher in the month of May. However, less than a month later, the special issue was pulled out entirely. Reacting to the move, one of the editors of the HER, said that the censorship of the issue is 'exactly how authoritarianism grows'. Next steps Many scholars have come to refer to the incident as the 'Palestine exception' to academic freedom. The authors are now in talks with other journals and are hopeful their pieces can be published as planned. The Guardian's interviewees, including authors and journal's editor, all expressed fear that the incident would deter other scholars from pursuing work on Palestine. Other steps taken by Trump administration against Harvard Harvard has been facing a brutal battle with the Trump administration, after it targeted the Ivy League University for failing to keep Jewish students safe and allowing antisemitism to flourish. Soon after university protests against Israel's war in Gaza gained traction, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sought information on various foreign national visa holders who have been a part of 'illegal and violent' activities within the campus. Eventually, the US Secretary of Homeland Security ordered the DHS to revoke Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification even after receiving a detailed list with the number and information of enrolled foreign students. In a letter to the university, the Secretary wrote that current students would need to transfer or risk losing their legal status. The University has so far managed to sue the administration on the matter, with Judge Burroughs issuing a ruling against Trump's June 4 proclamation, where he had said that any foreign national who enrolled at the university would be banned from entering the US. Harvard also sued the Trump administration in April this year against the funds freeze, saying the administration was using 'leverage to gain control of academic decision making at Harvard'. The New York Times reported about Harvard receiving seven stop-work orders for research awards between April 14 and May 6, after which 950 such orders totalling $2.4 billion were passed. Most recently, the US Departments of Education and Health and Human Services announced that they had notified Harvard's accrediting agency that the university had potentially violated federal law by failing to address claims of harassment against Jewish students. Losing accreditation would have severe consequences, including making Harvard students ineligible for federal financial aid.
Time of India
25 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump pulls US out of UN cultural agency UNESCO for second time
President Donald Trump has decided to pull the United States out of the "woke" and "divisive" U.N. culture and education agency UNESCO, the White House said on Tuesday, repeating a move he took in his first term that was reversed by Joe Biden. The withdrawal from the Paris-based agency, which was founded after World War Two to promote peace through international cooperation in education, science, and culture, will take effect at the end of next year. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Data Science Project Management Management Design Thinking Others Cybersecurity Public Policy MCA healthcare CXO MBA Data Science Digital Marketing Technology Product Management PGDM Degree Artificial Intelligence Finance Leadership others Data Analytics Operations Management Healthcare Skills you'll gain: Duration: 11 Months IIT Madras CERT-IITM Advanced Cert Prog in AI and ML India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 30 Weeks IIM Kozhikode SEPO - IIMK-AI for Senior Executives India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 10 Months E&ICT Academy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati CERT-IITG Prof Cert in DS & BA with GenAI India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 11 Months E&ICT Academy, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati CERT-IITG Postgraduate Cert in AI and ML India Starts on undefined Get Details The move is in line with the Trump administration's broader "America-first" foreign policy, which includes a deep skepticism of multilateral groups, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the NATO alliance. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Simple Morning Habit for a Flatter Belly After 50! Lulutox Undo White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said UNESCO "supports woke, divisive cultural and social causes that are totally out-of-step with the commonsense policies that Americans voted for." The State Department accused UNESCO of supporting "a globalist, ideological agenda for international development at odds with our America First foreign policy". Live Events It said its decision to admit the Palestinians as a member state was "highly problematic, contrary to U.S. policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric." UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said she deeply regretted Trump's decision, but it was "expected, and UNESCO has prepared for it." Posting on X, French President Emmanuel Macron professed "unwavering support" for the "universal protector" of world heritage and said the U.S. move would not weaken France's commitment to UNESCO. China's foreign ministry said Washington's decision was "not the behaviour expected of a responsible major country", and expressed China's staunch support of UNESCO's work, its spokesperson told reporters during a press briefing on Wednesday. UNESCO officials said the U.S. withdrawal would have some limited impact on U.S.-financed programs. Azoulay said UNESCO had diversified funding sources, receiving only about 8% of its budget from Washington. UNESCO was one of several international bodies Trump withdrew from during his first term, along with the World Health Organization, the Paris Agreement climate change accord, and the U.N. Human Rights Council. During his second term, he has largely reinstated those steps. Trump's pick to be his U.N. envoy, Mike Waltz, said this month the United Nations needs reform while expressing confidence that "we can make the U.N. great again." ISRAEL PRAISES US 'MORAL SUPPORT AND LEADERSHIP' Israel welcomed the U.S. decision with its U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, accusing UNESCO of "consistent misguided anti-Israel bias." In a post on X, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, thanked Washington for its "moral support and leadership" and said that "Singling out Israel and politicization by member states must end, in this and all professional UN agencies." U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the senior Democrat on the Republican-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Trump's decision "short-sighted and a win for China," which she said became the largest financial contributor to UNESCO after Trump last withdrew from the agency. UNESCO officials said all relevant agency statements had been agreed with both Israel and the Palestinians over the past eight years. Azoulay said the U.S. had given the same reasons for its pullout as it had seven years ago "even though the situation has changed profoundly, political tensions have receded, and UNESCO today constitutes a rare forum for consensus on concrete and action-oriented multilateralism." "These claims also contradict the reality of UNESCO's efforts, particularly in the field of Holocaust education and the fight against antisemitism," she added. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is best known for designating World Heritage Sites, including the U.S. Grand Canyon and Egypt's pyramids. It lists 26 sites in the United States, including the Statue of Liberty, on its World Heritage List which highlights 1,248 global locations of "outstanding universal value." Washington has had a troubled relationship with UNESCO over the years. It was a founding member in 1945 but first withdrew in 1984 to protest alleged financial mismanagement and perceived anti-U.S. bias during the Cold War. It returned in 2003 under President George W. Bush, who said UNESCO had undertaken needed reforms, but in 2011 the Obama administration announced it was stopping funding for the agency following its vote to grant the Palestinians full membership. Trump's first administration announced in 2017 it was quitting after accusing UNESCO of anti-Israeli bias, with Washington owing $542 million in dues, before former President Biden reversed the decision in 2023.
