WILMINGTON, Delaware — Harvard University asked a federal judge on Monday (June 2) to issue a summary judgement ruling to unfreeze US$2.5 billion (S$3.2 billion) in funding blocked by President Donald Trump's administration, which Harvard said was illegal.

Harvard's filing in the US District Court in Boston said that it had received 957 orders since April 14 to freeze funding for research pertaining to national security threats, cancer and infectious diseases and more since the country's oldest and wealthiest school rejected a White House list of demands.

Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard — and other top-level universities across the US — because in his view they have been captured by leftist "woke" thought and become bastions of antisemitism.

The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

US District Judge Allison Burroughs has set arguments for July 21 on Harvard's motion for summary judgement, which is a request for a judge to decide a dispute without a trial to determine material facts.

Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, alleging the funding freeze violated the school's right to free speech and was arbitrary and capricious.

In Monday's court filing, Harvard detailed the terminated grants, including US$88 million for research into paediatric HIV, US$12 million for increasing Defence Department awareness of emerging biological threats and US$8 million to better understand dark energy. The school said ending the funding would destroy ongoing research into cancer treatments, infectious disease and Parkinson's.

The Trump administration has opened numerous investigations into Harvard. Some are looking at threats against Jewish students and faculty after pro-Palestinian protests broke out following the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza.

Other investigations are probing whether Harvard discriminates based on sex and gender, along with the school's ties to foreign governments and international students.

The Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enrol international students last month, which a judge temporarily blocked after Harvard sued in a separate case.

Harvard and other universities say Trump's attacks are threats to freedom of speech and freedom of academics, as well as threats to the schools' very existence.

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