Harvard graduates celebrated commencement on Thursday at a pivotal time for the Ivy League school, as a federal judge extended an order blocking U.S. President Donald Trump administration’s attempt to bar the university from enrolling foreign students.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs extended the block she imposed last week with a temporary restraining order on the government action. Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security last week after Secretary Kristi Noem revoked its ability to host foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Mass.
On Thursday, the Trump administration announced a new effort to revoke Harvard’s certification to enrol foreign students. In a letter sent by the acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, Todd Lyons, the government gave Harvard 30 days to respond to the alleged grounds for withdrawal, which include accusations that Harvard co-ordinated with foreign entities and failed to respond sufficiently to antisemitism on campus.
On campus, graduating students cheered speakers who stressed the importance of maintaining a diverse and international student body while standing up for the truth.
While other schools have faced the loss of federal funding and their ability to enrol international students if they don’t agree to the Trump administration’s shifting demands, Harvard, founded more than a century before the nation itself, has taken the lead in defying the White House in court.
U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s ban on Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students. Foreign students comprise up to one-quarter of Harvard’s student body, among them hundreds of Canadians.
‘Diversity is our strength’
Harvard president Alan Garber, who has repeatedly defended the school’s actions, didn’t directly touch on the Trump
administration threats when he addressed the graduates Thursday. But he did get a rousing applause when he referenced the university’s global reach, noting that it is “just as it should be.”
Several of the graduating speakers spoke more directly about the challenges facing the school and society.
Speaking in Latin, salutatorian Aidan Robert Scully delivered a speech laced with references to Trump policies.
“I say this: … Neither powers nor princes can change the truth and deny that diversity is our strength,” Scully said.
It was a sentiment echoed by Yurong Luanna Jiang, a Chinese graduate who studied international development.
“When I met my 77 classmates from 32 different countries, the countries I knew only as colourful shapes on a map turned into real people, with laughter, dreams and the perseverance to survive the long winter in Cambridge,” she said of the other students in her international development program.
Praise for school’s president
On Wednesday, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the “Class Day” speaker, and the basketball legend and activist specifically called out the actions of Garber for praise.
“After seeing so many cowering billionaires, media moguls, law firms, politicians and other universities bend their knee to an administration that is systematically strip-mining the U.S. Constitution, it is inspiring to me to see Harvard University take a stand for freedom,” he continued.
The administration’s threats have included pulling federal funds that are allocated for scientific and medical research.
“Shutting off that work does not help the country, even as it punishes Harvard, and it is hard to see the link between that and, say, antisemitism,” Garber said this week in an interview with NPR.
Garber commissioned internal reports on antisemitism and anti-Arab prejudice at the school last year, a year in which Harvard students set up tents called on the university to divest from companies supporting Israel’s military, which has levelled Gaza in response to attacks by Hamas. Hundreds of graduating students last year walked out commencement chanting “Free, free Palestine.”
This year, the anti-war demonstrations have largely faded from view, but protesters held a silent vigil a few hours before Thursday’s ceremony. Holding signs that read “Ceasefire Now” and “Not Another Bomb,” protesters stood silently along the walls of Harvard.
Students face uncertainty, harassment: Harvard official
In April, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent a letter to the school demanding a range of records related to foreign students, including discipline records and anything related to “dangerous or violent activity.”
Harvard says it complied. But on May 22, Noem sent a letter saying the school’s response fell short. She said Harvard was being pulled from the federal program that allows colleges to sponsor international students to get U.S. visas. It took effect immediately and prevented Harvard from hosting foreign students in the upcoming school year.
Canadian Harvard University student Thomas Mete describes the turmoil he’s experiencing as the Trump administration attempts to ban international students. Speaking to The National, Mete says he’s watching developments closely as he ‘doesn’t have a plan B.’
In its lawsuit, Harvard argued that the government failed to follow administrative procedures and regulations that dictate how schools may be removed from eligibility to host international students, which including giving schools the opportunity to appeal and a 30-day window to respond. Wednesday’s notice is in line with those regulations.
Already, despite the restraining order, the Trump administration’s efforts to stop Harvard from enrolling international students have created an environment of “profound fear, concern and confusion,” the university’s director of immigration services said in a court filing on Wednesday.
Martin also said that international Harvard students arriving in Boston were sent to additional screening by Customs and Border Protection agents, and that international students seeking to obtain their visas were being denied or facing delays at consulates and embassies.
Separately, the Trump administration has announced plans to curtail student visas from China, regardless of their intended destination in the U.S. for post-secondary education.
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