The House Education and Workforce Committee dropped its McCarthy-like request for budget and personnel records from Northwestern University in suburban Chicago over allegations of anti-Semitism on campus, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights. The Center’s statement said this was a “victory for academic freedom, the rule of law, and bedrock constitutional principles.” The House committee dropped its request when professors from the law school filed suit against the committee, alleging that the investigation violated their and their clients’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process. The committee’s request and other writings had vilified Northwestern University President Michael Schill, considered the college administrator most successful in negotiating a “win-win” agreement with student protesters in the spring of 2024.
Harvard University faculty also filed suit and a temporary restraining order in a Boston federal court against a Trump administration “review” of nearly $9 billion in federal contracts and grants, according to the Harvard Crimson college newspaper. The lawsuit states that “Threats like these are an existential ‘gun to the head’ for a university. They overtly seek to impose on Harvard University political views and policy preferences advanced by the Trump administration and commit the University to punishing disfavored speech.” The lawsuit alleges that this review of the university’s funding was “arbitrary or capricious” and did not provide any reasoned explanation for its actions.
