In its latest blow dealt to academia, the Trump administration is opening an investigation into the Harvard Law Review’s editorial process. 

The federal government accused the journal, which is an independent student-led group, of race-based bias in how it selects the scholars it publishes. A story in The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news site, appears to have spurred the government action, CNBC reported.

The move is just one of the many times President Donald Trump has wielded equity-related practices as a weapon in his term’s first 100 days. 

It is also not the first clash between him and Harvard University. Earlier in April, Trump attempted to gain control over the school’s internal practices and political climate, much like his incursion into Columbia University. 

While Columbia eventually gave in, Harvard decided to put up some fight and is now suing the government after $2.2 billion of the university’s federal funding was frozen. 

Harvard’s endowment is the nation’s largest at over $50 billion. Yet the way its funding is allocated means that many in-progress medical and scientific research projects will struggle under the cash freeze, according to its president, Alan Garber.

Still, Harvard University is neither saint nor savior for its lawsuit. It mustered some backbone in the name of research and keeping federal influence out of higher education, but the school’s track record leaves much to be desired when it comes to protecting its students and faculty. 

In 2023, it stood idly by while conservative activists tore down then-President Claudine Gay, the first Black woman to serve in the role. Gay, whose testimony in front of Congress that year riled Israel supporters, eventually resigned in January 2024. 

Since then, the school has made a pattern of cracking down on pro-Palestinian voices and protests. Plus, the latest strike against the Harvard Law Review came as the university formally erased its equity program.

Notably, two task forces that sought to address Islamophobia and antisemitism on Harvard’s campus released reports on Tuesday with recommended actions, under headings like “Supporting belonging and promoting respectful dialogue” and “Revising and implementing policies, procedures, and training.” 

However, it remains to be seen how much real change will come from such efforts. While Harvard is often cast as ultra-liberal by critics, it was still founded 150 years before the United States and retains much of its original conservatism. 

As far as the clash with the Trump administration, many students and professors are encouraging the school to press on. Steven Levitsky, a Harvard political scientist, urged his employer to defend itself in a letter with 800 signatures from colleagues, per the LA Times. 

“State colleges are not going to be able to absorb a blow from Trump the way that Harvard can,”  Levitsky, co-author of the bestselling book “How Democracies Die,” told the LA Times. 

On April 22, the American Association of Colleges and Universities released a similar message from a range of higher education leaders. To date, 568 schools have joined the statement. 

“We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight,” it reads. “However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses.”

MORE URL NETWORK EDUCATION COVERAGE