Top universities reject President Trump’s ‘deal’ on academic freedom
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Southern California rejected President Trump’s “deal.”
- U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin temporarily blocked the Trump administration from withholding federal funding from the University of California.
- Lin said the First Amendment is at the heart of the case, writing that the court will need to decide whether the government can “hold university funding hostage to pressure censorship of speech.”
A judge has temporarily blocked the federal government from withholding funding to the University of California, marking the latest development in the Trump administration’s battle with higher education institutions.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin wrote that a coalition of plaintiffs, led by the American Association of University Professors and including other groups representing faculty, staff, and students, “presented overwhelming evidence” that the administration is “engaged in a concerted campaign to purge ‘woke,’ ‘leftist,’ and ‘socialist’ perspectives from our nation’s leading universities.”
The Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation into the University of California in March. The government said it would work to determine whether the school engages in “a pattern or practice of discrimination against faculty, staff, or other employees on the basis of race, religion, or national origin by creating an anti-Semitic and hostile work environment on campus.”
The American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit in September against numerous administration officials, including President Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The complaint accuses the defendants of “targeting and bullying” higher education institutions and engaging in unconstitutional conduct..
Mr. Lin’s preliminary injunction was consistent with these characteristics, as it was an interim measure that maintained the status quo until the court considered the merits of the case. She wrote that the administration has placed “impermissible conditionalities on aid in a manner that burdens First Amendment rights,” and that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of the case.
He also noted the administration’s similar commitments to other major schools, including a $200 million settlement with Columbia University, a $50 million deal with Brown University, and a losing lawsuit over federal funds withheld from Harvard University.
A September ruling granting Harvard’s motion for summary judgment asked the court to decide the case without a trial., U.S. District Judge Alison Burrows said the government has not proven a connection between the withholding of federal funds and efforts to combat anti-Semitism.
“Indeed, upon reviewing the administrative record, it is difficult to conclude anything other than that the defendants used anti-Semitism as a smokescreen to conduct targeted, ideologically motivated attacks on this nation’s premier universities, and to do so in a manner that violated the First and Sixth Amendments,” Burrows wrote.
The Trump administration has vowed to appeal the Harvard University funding case.
USA TODAY has reached out to the White House, Department of Education, and Department of State for comment on the California ruling. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Breanna Frank is USA TODAY’s First Amendment reporter. Please contact bjfrank@usatoday.com..
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