A United States federal judge has ruled that US President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully terminated about $2.2 billion in grants awarded to Harvard University and can no longer cut off research funding to the prestigious Ivy League school, Reuters reports.

The decision by US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston marked a major legal victory for Harvard as it seeks to cut a deal that could bring an end to the White House’s multi-front conflict with the nation’s oldest and richest university.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school became a central focus of the administration’s broad campaign to leverage federal funding to force change at US universities, which Trump says are gripped by anti-Semitic and “radical left” ideologies.

The administration cancelled hundreds of grants awarded to Harvard researchers on the grounds the school failed to do enough to address harassment of Jewish students on its campus.

Harvard sued, arguing the Trump administration was retaliating against it in violation of its free-speech rights after it refused to meet officials’ demands that it overhaul its governance, hiring and academic programs to align with their ideological agenda.

Read more here.

 Students gather on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US on April 15, 2025. — Reuters/Faith Ninivaggi/ File
Students gather on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US on April 15, 2025. — Reuters/Faith Ninivaggi/ File

Opinion

Editorial

Afghan hostilities
Updated 28 Feb, 2026

Afghan hostilities

The need is for an immediate ceasefire and substantive negotiations, with the onus on the Taliban to rein in cross-border attacks.
Cutting taxes
28 Feb, 2026

Cutting taxes

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s plan to cut direct taxes for businesses in the next budget acknowledges the strain...
KCR challenge
28 Feb, 2026

KCR challenge

THE Karachi Circular Railway is being discussed again. It seems that the project, or, rather, the hopes of it, are...
A collective effort
Updated 27 Feb, 2026

A collective effort

CONSIDERING the relentless wave of terrorist attacks Pakistan has been facing over the past few weeks, the...
Criminalising criticism
27 Feb, 2026

Criminalising criticism

ISLAMABAD seems to have developed quite a thin skin. A letter sent to the prime minister on Wednesday by leading...
Utter chaos
27 Feb, 2026

Utter chaos

THE PTI is in disarray. The lack of discipline within its ranks, which it has long refused to address, is finally...