Since the 1950s, the #federal govt has consistently operated as the predominant source of #research #funding for #universities, acc/to the #NSF.

One of the largest govt sources of research funding has been the #NIH, which disburses about $35 billion each year. The largest recipients of those NIH #grants are #MedicalSchools, acc/to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

#law #Constitution #AcademicFreedom #education #privacy #MafiaState #RevengePolitics #Trump #science #medicine

By directing a triad of investigations specifically at #MedicalSchools in a single day, the #Trump admin is widening its targets & transforming a decades-long financial partnership into a tool of #cultural leverage.

That partnership dates back to a postwar consensus in the country that #ScientificProgress is a fundamental #PublicGood — one too vital to be left to the vagaries of the market or the limitations of private philanthropy.

#law #AcademicFreedom #education #privacy #science #medicine

The government is seeking information about #MedicalSchool #applicants from each of the past 7 years, including test scores, home ZIP codes & any familial relationships to alumni or ties to university donors. The #Trump admin also demanded copies of any internal messages at the universities about #diversity, #equity & #inclusion & any correspondence between school officials & pharmaceutical companies about admissions policies.

#law #AcademicFreedom #education #privacy #MafiaState #science

The #Trump admin has opened investigations into #admissions policies at 3 major #MedicalSchools, expanding the #federal govt’s pressure campaign beyond campus #culture & taking aim at the heart of #ScientificAuthority in the #US.

The #DOJ on Wednesday informed #Stanford, #OhioState & #UCSD, about the investigations & demanded that the schools turn over extensive lists of #data by April 24 or risk interruptions to essential federal #funding….

#law #AcademicFreedom #education #privacy #medicine

Update. Also see the 2026 Update to the Academic Freedom Index (#AFI).
https://academic-freedom-index.net/research/Academic_Freedom_Index_Update_2026.pdf

Extracts from University World News:
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20260320155848399

"Academic freedom has declined more quickly in the United States than any other country in the past year…[Measuring academic freedom on a scale from 0 to 1, the worldwide average] between 2015 and 2025 fell 22%, from 0.49 to 0.38, a decline of 25%…One year into the second presidency of Donald J Trump, the United States registered a steep and unprecedented decline in its academic freedom score, dropping from 0.68 to 0.4. This decline…leaves the US’ level of academic freedom just below that of Mozambique (0.41) and just above Thailand (0.38), where the law of llèse-majesté, forbidding insult of the monarchy, is the strictest in the world."

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

The lawsuit marks the second time in less than a month that the #Trump admin
has sued a #university over “civil rights” violations.

Last month, the #DOJ said #UCLA had tolerated “grossly antisemitic acts & systematically ignored cries for help from its own terrified Jewish & Israeli employees.”

The DOJ said that UCLA had “turned a blind eye” — the same phrase used in Friday’s lawsuit against Harvard [copy & paste.]

#law #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #education #RevengePolitics

“The United States cannot & will not tolerate these failures & brings this action to compel Harvard to comply with Title VI, & to recover billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies awarded to a discriminatory institution,” the #DOJ added.

#Harvard did not respond to a request for comment. In the past, Harvard leaders have acknowledged problems during #protests over the #war in #Gaza, but have also said they moved to address those issues.

#law #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #Trump