Recently, many top universities around the nation have been under federal pressure for a variety of reasons. Most notably, Harvard University has fought back against the Trump administration’s actions by filing two different lawsuits, one of which was recently concluded in favor of the college. However, Harvard websites supporting minority, LGBTQ and female students have been quietly taken down by the university, the school is seemingly continuing to buckle under the unwaning pressure. Based on past cases, this may come with repercussions for the entire academic world.
Firstly, back in the spring, the federal government canceled about $11 billion worth of research funding and grants for universities. More than two dozen schools were affected, and $2 billion of those cuts affected one university in particular: Harvard. As justification, the Trump administration claims that the university has failed to protect Jewish students, thus violating civil rights law. Harvard sued the administration over the cuts, charging the president’s actions as retaliatory and illegal. As of Sept. 3, 2025, a judge ruled in favor of Harvard on this lawsuit–more on that later.
Harvard’s second ongoing lawsuit against the federal government is aimed at combatting its efforts to bar international students from studying at the school. The university has the most international students in the nation, making up more than a quarter of its student body. Along with providing essential diversity to the university’s campus, international students are a financial necessity for many universities around the country, including Harvard.
The lawsuit was filed in response to the Trump administration’s attempts to revoke student visas from international students at the school and prevent Harvard from admitting any more. The order was blocked temporarily by a federal judge and cites national security concerns including unchecked foreign influence on campus.
However, Harvard doesn’t represent the entire roster of universities being investigated by the federal government. In late July, Columbia University agreed to pay over $220 million to regain federal research money that was canceled due to concerns of antisemitism on campus. The University of Pennsylvania reached a similar deal a few weeks prior, along with changing policies regarding transgender athletes at the school. While Harvard has lost billions of dollars in federal funding amidst an ongoing legal battle, Columbia and UPenn’s decisions have put further pressure on the remainder of the universities under scrutiny from the Trump administration.
This pressure, among other factors, likely contributed to Harvard’s decision to remove access to campus diversity centers’ websites. Links to these websites now redirect to a page for an Office of Culture and Community, as reported by The Harvard Crimson. The office was announced quietly as a replacement for the diversity office of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
This move seems to be a departure from Harvard’s core values of diversity and inclusion, and will most likely contribute to a significant shift in the campus culture of universities around the nation. We may already be seeing this in action, with Brown University recently following in UPenn’s footsteps by agreeing to a deal costing them $50 million in grants over the next decade.
The terms and conditions of said deal involve major changes to the university’s values, including a redefining of gender definitions on campus within athletic programs, housing and more. While some may agree and others may choose not to stand with these choices, they are certainly an undeniable transition in university campus culture. Alongside their deals, Columbia and UPenn reached similar conclusions.
With schools like UCLA, Northwestern, Duke and more having also had research grants revoked, the potential for more such deals is more than possible. If even some of the other top universities targeted reach similar deals to Brown, Columbia and Penn, we will more than likely observe a long-term step toward the right in the political spectrum, with colleges across the nation, ranging from admissions to campus programs.
Despite this, Harvard is still pushing forward in its legal battle against the federal government. Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that the government violated the college’s free speech rights when it revoked billions in research grants from the Ivy League university. While such a statement may sound like a conclusive decision, it is still unclear whether Harvard will actually receive the money back or not. The White House confirmed that the university “remains ineligible for grants in the future,” which comes with the promise of an appeal.
According to National Correspondent Alan Blinder at the New York Times, “The judge in Boston who ruled against the government, Allison D. Burroughs, signaled that the government could still use customary tactics to try to choke off federal funding in the future.”
In other words, even if the university found a way to gain back their funds, the government could still curveball it.
One such method could involve bringing the case before the Supreme Court, which provides the federal government with a strong possibility of winning the lawsuit. Alternatively, the New York Times reported that Harvard may be willing to spend $500 million to form a deal with the White House, which could lead to a settlement outside of court.
Whether Harvard receives the $2 billion or not is crucial for the rest of higher education. If not, this indicates that university funding will be insecure for the foreseeable future, and could disappear at a moment’s notice. The outcome may redefine the relationship between universities and Washington D.C., and determine how far campuses are willing to bend before they break.
