Harvard University has sued US President Donald Trump's administration in an effort to halt the government's pause on more than $US2 billion ($3.1 billion) in funding for the educational institution.
"Over the course of the past week, the federal government has taken several actions following Harvard's refusal to comply with its illegal demands," Harvard president Alan Garber said in a statement.
"Moments ago, we filed a lawsuit to halt the funding freeze because it is unlawful and beyond the government's authority," he added.
Among the US government agencies mentioned in Harvard's lawsuit are the Education Department, the Health Department, the Justice Department, the Energy Department and the General Services Administration.
The lawsuit accuses the government of attempting to "leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard".
"The Government has not — and cannot — identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen that aims to save American lives, foster American success, preserve American security, and maintain America's position as a global leader in innovation," the university wrote in its lawsuit, filed in Boston federal court.
"Nor has the Government acknowledged the significant consequences that the indefinite freeze of billions of dollars in federal research funding will have on Harvard's research programs, the beneficiaries of that research, and the national interest in furthering American innovation and progress," it added.
The lawsuit is a major escalation in the ongoing battle between Mr Trump and higher education in the US, something the president has promised to "reclaim".
The Trump administration made no immediate comment on the matter.
Why is Trump targeting Harvard?
The federal government sent the institution a list of demands on April 11, ordering it to reform its hiring, admission and teaching practices.
The demands stem from what the White House characterises as its crackdown on antisemitism on college campuses.
Harvard's president has rejected the letter as overreach and said it has already made extensive changes to address antisemitism.
The funding freeze came after the institution chose to defy the Trump administration's demand that it end diversity programs, alter hiring and admissions policies and limit activism on campus.
Last week, the Harvard president said the university would not bend to the government's demands.
"The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights," Mr Garber said in a letter to the Harvard community.
"No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue."
Harvard law professors filed separate lawsuit last week
The Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors has also filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing its requests breach free speech rights and are unconstitutional.
"If you look at the demand letter he actually sent to my university … those bullets have so many things that are demands that have nothing to do with antisemitism," Harvard law professor Andrew Crespo said.
"He wants to appoint a federal overseer for Harvard University to audit all of our courses, to audit all of our departments to see if they meet his definition of ideological balance.
"In other words, he wants to see what we're teaching, and he wants to change what we're teaching … he wants to make sure we're only asking questions that he wants to ask and giving the answers that he wants to be giving."
"That is not about antisemitism, that's about authoritarianism."
It has put the university at the forefront of a broader political battle between the US government and the country's higher education institutions.
ABC/Reuters/AP
