Garber said that Congress “has an important role to play in defending research.”
The Economic Club of Washington, D.C./Gary Cameron
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Alan Garber’s lawyer told him he shouldn’t speak at the Economic Club on Thursday, in the midst of his institution’s protracted legal battle with the Trump administration over federal research funding.
The Harvard University president did so anyway, spending almost an hour in a friendly interview with David Rubenstein, a Harvard donor and co-founder of the private equity firm the Carlyle Group. Throughout the interview, Garber argued that Harvard’s legal battle with the federal government—which has sought to cut off $2.2 billion in research funding over allegations that the university mishandled antisemitism on campus—could have far-reaching consequences not only for Harvard and the higher education sector but also the nation.
Though Harvard won the first round in its legal battle last fall when a federal judge determined that the funding freeze was illegal, a Trump administration appeal is still playing out. The Department of Justice also sued Harvard in February, alleging the university was slow-walking responses to an investigation into its admissions processes. (Harvard has denied the claims in the DOJ lawsuit.)
