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For a while, it seemed likely that Donald Trump just might succeed in bringing some of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning to heel — until Harvard, the oldest and richest of them all, stood up to the schoolyard bully.

On Monday, the university sued the Trump administration, accusing the government of trying to "gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard.”

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Fight on, Harvard.

Of course, the university can afford this fight better than a lot of other colleges can. Its endowment of $53.2 billion is the largest of its kind in the world. Its yields are big enough to cover more than a third of the school’s $6.9 billion operating budget.

But it’s no small thing for institutions to dip into an endowment, as Harvard may have to do if Mr. Trump pursues his offensive and the school stands strong in refusing to capitulate.

Mr. Trump’s administration, in a recent letter to the school, claimed that Harvard “has fundamentally failed to protect American students........

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