Harvard Magazine

07/02/2025

Harvard University and the federal government are slated to square off in court on July 21, with more than $2.2 billion in federal funding and grants at stake. To help readers understand the legal arguments on both sides of the conflict, we’ve compiled “baseball cards” of lawyers involved in the cases. Here’s what each side has to say.

The government’s argument:
The federal government, mainly through the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, revoked Harvard’s funding by citing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires federally funded schools to protect students from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. The government claims Harvard failed to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestine protests following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Harvard’s argument:
Harvard sued in April to stop the funding freeze. While acknowledging the importance of combating antisemitism and promoting viewpoint diversity, the University argues such reforms should come from institutions, not the government. Harvard cites recent updates to disciplinary policies aimed at supporting Jewish and Israeli students. It also claims the government failed to follow the required legal process under Title VI and the Administrative Procedure Act. Additionally, Harvard argues that the government’s demands threaten academic freedom and violate its First Amendment rights, including in areas like faculty hiring and admissions.

Read more: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2025/07/harvard-vs-trump-lawyers

📸: Illustrations by Harvard Magazine based on photographs from Lannis Waters / Palm Beach Post via the Associated Press and by Bruce Rogovin.

07/02/2025

What research is at risk across the 1,000-plus Harvard University studies cancelled by federal funding cuts? Harvard received $686 million in federal research funding in fiscal year 2024—11 percent of its overall annual operating budget. Harvard’s 1,000 cancelled grants and contracts studied everything from space flight to sudden infant death. Here’s a sampling:

• Advanced tools for using ancient DNA to study biology and history ($1.91 million, NIH)

• Does neurotransmitter plasticity of para-serotonergic neurons augment autoresuscitation following perinatal stress and buffer SIDS risk? ($633,400, NIH)

• The impacts of county-level COVID-19-related public health and social policies on racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in mental health and healthcare utilization ($2.6 million, NIH)

• The longitudinal and dynamic effects of food insecurity on cognitive impairment and dementia risk ($389,420, NIH)

• Modeling spaceflight-induced changes in blood cell formation and immune responses in human organ chips ($4 million, NASA funding, administered by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA)

• FlyBase: a Drosophila genomic and genetic database ($1.9 million, National Human Genome Research Institute)

• Cognitive mechanisms of guided instruction in the early elementary years ($1.5 million, NSF)

• Geometric deep learning to facilitate algorithmic and scientific advances in therapeutics ($566,128, NSF)

• Programming multistable origami and kirigami structures via topological design ($6.25 million, Department of Defense)

Read more: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2025/07/harvard-trump-research-cuts

📸: Photograph of Memorial Church, Harvard by Olivia Farrar; image courtesy of Canva.

07/01/2025

MethaneSAT, one of the most advanced satellites ever launched to track methane emissions, has unfortunately ceased operation. On Friday, June 20, mission control lost contact with the satellite. As the official announcement reported, "After pursuing all options to restore communications, we learned this morning that the satellite has lost power, and that it is likely not recoverable."

Launched in March 2024, MethaneSAT spent the past year collecting critical data on methane emissions from oil and gas production sites around the world. Harvard University researchers played a key role in its design and development.

The mission provided groundbreaking insight into the scale and distribution of methane emissions and helped pioneer new techniques for translating satellite measurements into accurate estimates of methane release. These capabilities will continue to inform and support future satellite missions.

How Harvard scientists hope to slow near-term climate change

07/01/2025

Harvard University’s $53.2 billion endowment might sound limitless, but not when compared to the University’s annual expenses: $6.5 billion. If Harvard relied entirely on the endowment to fund its operations (ignoring investment returns), the total would be depleted in a little more than eight years.

With President Trump threatening to pull federal funding from Harvard, the stakes are extremely high. The loss of federal grants and contracts would cost the University about $2.2 billion over the next five years (the typical length of a federal grant). If Congress also moves forward with taxing endowment gains at 21.4 percent, Harvard could lose $850 million a year. Over five years, that’s a $4.25 billion blow on top of the $2.2 billion at risk from lost federal grants.

The future of America’s top research institution is in real jeopardy.

Read more: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2025/06/trump-harvard-endowment-funding-cuts

📸: Photographs and charts by Harvard Magazine.

07/01/2025

As the Trump administration targets Harvard University, Harvard Magazine has compiled key players on both sides of the conflict, from those in the Trump administration leading the crackdown to the Harvard faculty and administrators fighting back.

On one side: top Trump administration officials cutting funding, cracking down on international students, and threatening legal action over DEI and academic independence.

On the other: Harvard faculty, administrators, and alumni pushing back through lawsuits, public statements, and campus mobilization.

Who’s leading the charge on each side? What’s really at stake for Harvard, and for higher education in America?

Read more: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2025/07/harvard-trump-garber-noem-mcmahon-bondi-stefanik-kennedy

📸: Illustrations by Jennifer Carling / Harvard Magazine.

07/01/2025

The current clash between Harvard University and the Trump administration may feel unprecedented — but it’s far from the first time Harvard students or faculty have led protests or opposed the federal government.

In the 1930s, Harvard students protested "Kristallnacht," the violent N**i pogrom against Jewish residents. They rallied against the Vietnam War in the '60s. They built anti-apartheid shantytowns in the '80s. Here, we've compiled a historical timeline of tensions between the University and Washington.

Read more: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2025/07/harvard-historical-protests-federal-government

📸: Courtesy of Harvard University archives.

07/01/2025

This morning, the Trump administration accused Harvard University of violating federal civil rights law by failing to adequately respond to the harassment of Jewish and Israeli students on its campus.

A letter from the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, sent to President Alan M. Garber, says that Harvard is “in violent violation” of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis on race, color, and national origin.

The letter concludes by saying that “failure to institute adequate changes immediately” in response to the investigation’s findings will lead to the “loss of all federal financial resources.”

In a court filing, the University says government has ignored procedure to “inflict pain.”

06/30/2025

John C.P. Goldberg, Carter professor of general jurisprudence and interim dean of Harvard Law School since March 2024, has been named dean of HLS. He formerly served as deputy dean from 2017 to 2022.

In a statement, Goldberg said he is “deeply grateful for this opportunity to serve the students, faculty, staff, and graduates of Harvard Law School, particularly at a moment in which law and legal education are so salient. Working together,” he added, “we will continue to advance our understanding of the law, and to explore how it can best serve constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the bedrock American principle of liberty and equal justice for all.”

A professor at HLS since 2008, he steps up from the interim role.

06/27/2025

On Thursday afternoon, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued a subpoena to Harvard University to force the University to hand over documents pertaining to its financial aid practices, as part of a congressional probe into alleged tuition price-fixing in the Ivy League.

The University must turn over all requested materials related to tuition and financial aid by mid-July.

The University must turn over all requested materials related to tuition and financial aid by mid-July.

06/26/2025

More than 25,000 pieces of space junk are currently orbiting Earth at 17,000 mph, from dead satellites to debris from anti-satellite weapons. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell from the Center for Astrophysics l Harvard & Smithsonian explains what happens when this junk collides—and why it matters.

As debris accumulates in low Earth orbit, the danger of destructive collisions continues to rise.

06/26/2025

This week, the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) announced its plans for educating international students online or in Canada if they are prevented from returning to Cambridge this fall.

Although the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke student visas has been blocked in court for now, HKS Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein told students in a June 24 email that the school is moving forward with contingency plans to reduce uncertainty.

Meanwhile, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which already offers two master’s programs online, is also working to expand its remote learning offerings to ensure the continued education of international students.

Kennedy School, School of Public Health are developing online options

06/26/2025

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but can an orange a day prevent depression?

A recent study by Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School scientists suggests that citrus fruit may prevent depression. The explanation may lie in the gut microbiome—the teeming ecosystem of microscopic organisms that live in the human digestive tract and impact the brain and nervous system.

A research study digs into the gut microbiome.