As Harvard University fights in federal court against the Trump administration’s nearly $3 billion in funding cuts or freezes, over two dozen universities are supporting the Cambridge institution in new court filings.

However, Columbia University and Cornell University are notably the only Ivy League institutions that are absent from the document, known as an amicus brief.

The court filing points to how the funding cuts to Harvard would “negatively impact the entire research ecosystem,” in addition to the “Nation’s universities, to the public welfare and to America’s position in the world,” according to the filing.

The filing initially had 18 institutions and six requested to join on Monday.

Spokespeople at both institutions didn’t respond immediately to requests for comment.

The institutions that have signed on to the court document include:

American University

Georgetown University

Stanford university

University of Delaware

University of Denver

University of Maryland, Baltimore

Boston University

Brown University

California Institute of Technology

Colorado State University

Dartmouth College

Johns Hopkins University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Michigan State University

Oregon State University

Princeton University

Rice University

Rutgers University

Tufts University

University of Maryland, College Park

University of Oregon

University of Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh

Yale University

While Columbia hasn’t signed on in support of Harvard’s lawsuit, an alumni group called Columbia Alumni for Academic Freedom has offered support in a separate amicus brief. The group was organized in March 2025 in response to the Trump administration’s actions toward both Columbia and Harvard.

The group said members are “united in the conviction that nothing about recent campus events — ones that reflect real fissures in our world and nation — remotely justifies, nor is the true reason for, the sweeping, indiscriminate and punitive actions recently visited upon Columbia and Harvard by the Trump Administration."

What has happened at Columbia?

Columbia has been in a similar fight to Harvard with the Trump administration.

Most recently, the U.S. Department of Education threatened Columbia’s accreditation due to its response to campus antisemitism.

It was the first institution to be offered an ultimatum — either abide by a list of requirements laid out for them or jeopardize its “continued financial relationship with the United States government.”

Columbia later agreed to implement a list of policy changes, including overhauling its rules for protests and conducting an immediate review of its Middle Eastern studies department.

After Harvard University was also issued an ultimatum — with billions of dollars of funding on the line — Harvard pushed back against the administration. The university has multiple lawsuits against the federal government right now.

Quickly following in Harvard’s footsteps, Columbia pledged not to make any agreement with the federal government that would “relinquish our independence and autonomy,” according to a message from the university’s president.

Columbia is also being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for failing to protect Jewish students from antisemitic discrimination and harassment. Six Massachusetts institutions are also part of the investigation.

Cornell, the other institution that did not sign onto the legal document in support of Harvard, had $1 billion in funding frozen in April. (Yahoo News)