IN a dramatic escalation that pits America's oldest and wealthiest university against presidential power, Harvard University has chosen principles over pragmatism - risking $2.3 billion in federal funding to defend what it sees as core academic freedoms. When the Trump administration presented Harvard with a sweeping list of demands - from dismantling diversity initiatives to overhauling international student admissions - university leadership made a calculation that few other institutions have dared: they said no. "The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights," declared Harvard President Alan Garber in a public statement that has sent shockwaves through…