Harvard’s fight with the Trump administration is just getting started. The cost is already high

In the wake of the government’s threats, Harvard has begun touting the life-changing impacts of its federally-funded research and how the Trump administration’s “unlawful” actions could impact not only the university’s employees and students, but the wider American public.

A picture of Dr. David Walt, a pioneering scientist whose research helped significantly lower the costs of DNA sequencing, greets visitors to Harvard University’s website right next to a large headline: Research Powers Progress. But since Harvard has become embroiled in an ideological battle with the Trump administration, Walt has become the face of a fight between the nation’s most prestigious university and the federal government. Harvard’s brawl with the Trump administration over academic autonomy and government control exploded on the national scene in recent weeks, with the White House accusing the school of tolerating antisemitic behavior and academic leaders saying in a lawsuit filed Monday the government is trying to pressure the school to submit to its demands. Education Secretary Linda McMahon insisted Tuesday the White House’s recent demands are not about curbing freedom of speech. In the wake of the government’s threats, Harvard – an institution that is 140 years older than the US government – has begun touting the life-changing impacts of its federally funded research and spelled out in court documents how the Trump administration’s “unlawful” actions could impact not only the university’s employees and students, but the wider American public. Walt, who was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in January by then-President Joe Biden, leads a lab that’s developing early detection technologies for neurodegenerative diseases, like ALS.