Kseniia Petrova’s future has hung in the balance since she allegedly failed to declare frog embryos that she was bringing back from France for research.

Harvard University is in federal court in its ongoing battle with the Trump administration over more than $2 billon in government funding halted by the White House in spring.

“They’ve realized that they can take a bit of a step further, that they can advance their policy priorities through those levers they have through the state university system,” said Preston Cooper, a senior fellow who studies higher education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Lawyers for the Trump administration sparred with Harvard, Planned Parenthood and the American Association of University Professors on Monday at Boston's Moakley Courthouse over funding, free speech and more.

The youth chorus from Paris, whose members are between 11 and 13 years old, was performing as part of their US tour

The same day Harvard rejected the government’s demands, Trump officials moved to freeze $2.2 billion in research grants. Education Secretary Linda McMahon declared in May that Harvard would no longer be eligible for new grants, and weeks later the administration began canceling contracts with Harvard.

The stakes for Harvard will be in focus on Monday, when a federal judge in Boston will hear arguments on whether the Trump administration illegally froze more than $2 billion in research funding

Though Hajjar concedes that the Trump administration “has overstepped on some of its demands,” she advocates that Harvard cave in other respects — for example, by avoiding discussions around controversial issues like “equity” — because “the White House can make life even more difficult for Harvard.”