This week, a federal judge sided with Harvard in one of its two lawsuits, blocking an order by President Trump to prevent international students from enrolling.

As legal battles drag out, and possibly work their way up to a firmly conservative Supreme Court, the school is at an increasing disadvantage, some observers point out.

In its campaign to pressure elite US colleges to make a wide range of policy changes, the administration of President Donald Trump has come down hardest on Harvard University.