This story was originally produced by the Valley News. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Dartmouth College is among the 36 colleges and universities to sign an amicus brief in support of Harvard University’s April lawsuit against the Trump administration, according to a filing made on July 22 with the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
The brief represents a new development in an ongoing lawsuit in which Harvard sued the Trump administration after it froze $2.2 billion in federal grants.
A federal judge in Boston ordered the Trump administration to reverse its cuts last September, Associated Press reported at the time. The Trump administration then appealed the ruling last December.
The funding freeze came after Harvard refused to comply with the government’s demand that the university makes changes to its hiring and admissions practices and dissolve diversity, equity and inclusion practices amid an investigation into antisemitism on campus last year.
The July amicus brief, signed by all other Ivy League universities in support of Harvard, argues that, “Simply put, academic research generates breakthroughs that save and improve lives, build economies, and foster human flourishing. And it requires federal funding to do so.”
“Draconian cuts to federal research funding endanger this longstanding mutually beneficial relationship between institutions of higher learning and the American public…,” the brief continues.
While Harvard has been faced with a funding freeze, the Trump administration has not rescinded funding from Dartmouth save for some research grants, a spokesperson for the college said in a Thursday email.
Dartmouth has previously signed several other amicus briefs in support of Harvard, including one submitted on Jan. 20 in favor of the university opposing the federal government’s attempts to revoke Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records for international students, according to a college spokesperson.
But at times, Dartmouth has been slow to decry the Trump administration’s threats to universities’ autonomy and access to federal funding.
The college was the last Ivy League school to reject President Trump’s request to join a higher education compact, a 10-point proposal that asked universities to commit to the White House’s vision for academic institutions in exchange for priority in federal funding.
The proposal required that universities disregard race and gender in their admissions and hiring processes; enforce single-gender bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams; and define “male” and “female” according to reproductive function, among other demands.
Dartmouth’s decision to sign the July brief also coincides with a federal investigation into alleged discrimination in Geisel School of Medicine’s admissions practices, the Valley News reported last month.
“Many schools seem to be more focused on meeting racial quotas than selecting individuals who have earned entrance based on merit,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey in a July 22 news release about the investigation.
Four other medical schools also are under investigation.
This story has been updated to include a response from Dartmouth College.
