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Harvard officials, in a new court filing on Monday, detailed the extent of cuts that the Trump administration had made to a broad swath of university research projects.
June 2, 2025, 8:32 p.m. ET
Destroyed research programs. Shuttered labs. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers fleeing elsewhere.
In a court filing on Monday, Harvard University painted a bleak picture for its research enterprise if the funding taken away by the Trump administration is not restored.
“The harm would be severe and long lasting,” John H. Shaw, the university’s vice provost for research, wrote in the 17-page declaration that is part of Harvard’s lawsuit against the Trump administration. “Money cannot repair the lost time, talent, and opportunity.”
Republicans have often argued that universities have not been good stewards of taxpayer money. In past statements, the Trump administration officials have said the university has forfeited the opportunity to receive taxpayer funds.
Dr. Shaw, however, wrote that it was defunding ongoing research efforts that was wasteful. He cited the loss of continuity, including lost seasons of data collection in environmental research and missed check-ins for longitudinal health studies.
“These losses would set back entire fields, slow discovery, and waste public investment,” Dr. Shaw wrote.
