First on CNN: More than 12,000 Harvard alumni unite to support university legal challenge

CNN

4 hours ago

Thousands of Harvard University alumni have signed on to a legal message of support for their alma mater, CNN has learned, an unprecedented effort to back the school as it challenges the Trump administration's decision to halt more than $2.2 billion in federal funding.
More than 12,000 Harvard alumni – from the class of 1950 to the just-graduated class of 2025 – added their signatures to an amicus brief, a legal document sent by a third party to a lawsuit offering the court additional information about the case. The brief, first reported by CNN, was submitted to the court on Monday.
The signatories come from a range of backgrounds, united by a Harvard degree and concern for the future of their alma mater: a Wisconsin beer brewer, comedian Conan O'Brien, an Ohio fighter pilot, author Margaret Atwood, a South Dakota tribal leader and Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healy, among other prominent members of communities across the country and globe.
The group claims it's the largest known alumni brief from a single school in history.
And the alumni involved believe it's a historic moment as Harvard defends itself – and in turn, potentially sets a precedent for other colleges and universities amid a major clash over academic freedom, federal funding and campus oversight.
Harvard sued the Trump administration in April over its decision to freeze federal funding and has asked for an expedited final decision in the case. Oral arguments are scheduled for July 21.
'As alumni, we are deeply alarmed by the Government's reckless and unlawful attempts to assert control over the core functions of Harvard and its fellow institutions of higher education. Without due process or any recognizable basis in law—and with complete disregard for the freedoms the Constitution secures and the constraints it imposes—the Government has embarked on a campaign to deploy every power at its disposal to damage Harvard,' the brief says.
It continues, 'The Government's end goal is to narrow our freedoms to learn, teach, think, and act, and to claim for itself the right to dictate who may enjoy those freedoms. As alumni, we attest that Harvard's true greatness resides in the ways we share these values and exercise these freedoms.'
The White House did not respond to CNN's request for comment on the brief.
Anurima Bhargava, a documentary filmmaker, civil rights lawyer and Harvard alumna who has helped lead the effort, told CNN in an interview that it marks a moment of solidarity across traditional divides.
'We are educated in part so that we can be safeguarders of liberty and democracy. And that is certainly what we all feel like is an important stand to take in this time,' Bhargava said.
She continued, 'It's about our education, not only at Harvard – it goes so far beyond Harvard to 'what are our abilities in every kind of school and college and university to be able to voice and to think and to learn freely without the kind of interference that we're seeing from the government.''
Bhargava said there were 'many' alumni who wanted to sign the brief but did not, for fear of retaliation from the administration.
Efforts to target Harvard began even before President Donald Trump returned to office, with his allies arguing they're cracking down on antisemitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war. But the administration's actions extend to a broader agenda – and a belief inside the White House that it's a winning political issue for the president.
'We unequivocally condemn antisemitism and every other form of discrimination and hate, which have no place at Harvard or anywhere else in our society. Yet charges of antisemitism—particularly without due process and proper bases and findings by the Government—should not be used as a pretext for the illegal and unconstitutional punishment and takeover of an academic institution by the Government. Indeed, most of the Government's demands on Harvard have little or nothing to do with combating antisemitism, or any other kind of bias and discrimination, on campus,' the brief states.
The university is now engaged in multiple legal battles with the Trump administration, which has launched several investigations into the school. White House officials and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have kept the door open to negotiating with the school, but the administration is not currently in talks.