Trump ratchets up battle with Harvard, foreign students: 5 takeaways
The Trump administration intensified its battle with Harvard University on Thursday, revoking the storied college’s ability to enroll foreign students and demanding that any such current students transfer elsewhere for the next academic year or lose their visas.
The decision was laid out in a letter from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to Harvard’s director of immigration services, Maureen Martin.
Noem declared that it was a “privilege” for an educational institution to be able to enroll international students.
She further contended that Harvard had lost this privilege because, she said, it had refused to comply with requests from her department for information, perpetuated “an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students,” and had employed “racist” diversity equity and inclusion policies.
Those charges were a reminder of the broader struggle between the Trump administration and Harvard.
Harvard leadership believes the Trump administration wants to eviscerate the college’s academic freedom. The college also says it takes the issue of antisemitism seriously.
When the conflict between President Trump and the college first flared, Harvard President Alan Garber asserted that the Trump administration was seeking to “impose unprecedented and improper control over the University.”
Garber also said that Harvard had a “moral imperative” as well as a “legal obligation” to fight back against such an effort.
Here are five major takeaways from the latest developments.
Trump is seeking to throttle Harvard’s revenue
The administration’s battle with Harvard has escalated rapidly since it © The Hill
