UPDATED
Federal judge blocks Trump administration from barring foreign student enrolment at Harvard
Harvard said the US government's action came in retaliation for defying its political demands.
By Emma De Ruiter with AP
Published on 23/05/2025 -
Harvard said the US government's action came in retaliation for defying its political demands.
By Emma De Ruiter with AP
Published on 23/05/2025 -
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from cutting off Harvard's enrolment of foreign students.
In a lawsuit filed in Boston on Friday, the Ivy League university said the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders".
The renowned institution said it had been targeted for defying the White House’s political demands.
Since the start of US President Donald Trump's second term, the US government has sought to fundamentally change the country's universities.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
The temporary restraining order was granted by US District Judge Allison Burroughs.
If the Trump administration's decision stands, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years.
Graduate schools like the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, would be the worst affected.
Harvard said the White House's move on Thursday puts the school at an immediate disadvantage as it competes for the world's top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government", the lawsuit said.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed on Thursday that it had acted against Harvard because the university had created an unsafe environment for Jewish students by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus.
On 16 April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.
Noem said Harvard could regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces records on foreign students within 72 hours.
In a lawsuit filed in Boston on Friday, the Ivy League university said the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders".
The renowned institution said it had been targeted for defying the White House’s political demands.
Since the start of US President Donald Trump's second term, the US government has sought to fundamentally change the country's universities.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
The temporary restraining order was granted by US District Judge Allison Burroughs.
If the Trump administration's decision stands, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years.
Graduate schools like the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, would be the worst affected.
Harvard said the White House's move on Thursday puts the school at an immediate disadvantage as it competes for the world's top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government", the lawsuit said.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed on Thursday that it had acted against Harvard because the university had created an unsafe environment for Jewish students by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus.
On 16 April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.
Noem said Harvard could regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces records on foreign students within 72 hours.
- People walk between buildings, Dec. 17, 2024, on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Steven Senne/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.
By Emma De Ruiter with AP
Published on 23/05/2025 -
By Emma De Ruiter with AP
Published on 23/05/2025 -
Harvard said the US government's action came in retaliation for defying its political demands.
Harvard University is challenging the Trump administration's decision to bar it from enrolling foreign students.
In a lawsuit filed in Boston on Friday, the Ivy League university said the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders".
The renowned institution said it had been targeted for defying the White House’s political demands.
Since the start of US President Donald Trump's second term, the US government has sought to fundamentally change the country's universities.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
The university also filed a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.
If the Trump administration's decision stands, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years.
Graduate schools like the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, would be the worst affected.
Harvard said the White House's move on Thursday puts the school at an immediate disadvantage as it competes for the world's top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government", the lawsuit said.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed on Thursday that it had acted against Harvard because the university had created an unsafe environment for Jewish students by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus.
On 16 April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.
Noem said Harvard could regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces records on foreign students within 72 hours.
Harvard University is challenging the Trump administration's decision to bar it from enrolling foreign students.
In a lawsuit filed in Boston on Friday, the Ivy League university said the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders".
The renowned institution said it had been targeted for defying the White House’s political demands.
Since the start of US President Donald Trump's second term, the US government has sought to fundamentally change the country's universities.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
The university also filed a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.
If the Trump administration's decision stands, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years.
Graduate schools like the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, would be the worst affected.
Harvard said the White House's move on Thursday puts the school at an immediate disadvantage as it competes for the world's top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government", the lawsuit said.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed on Thursday that it had acted against Harvard because the university had created an unsafe environment for Jewish students by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus.
On 16 April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.
Noem said Harvard could regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces records on foreign students within 72 hours.
Dismayed Chinese students ponder prospects after Trump Harvard ban
By AFP
May 23, 2025
Around 1,300 Chinese students are currently enrolled at Harvard, according to official figures - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Sophie Park
Celia Cazale and Matthew Walsh, with Agatha Cantrill in Shanghai
Dismayed Chinese students feared for their international futures on Friday after US President Donald Trump revoked Harvard University’s right to enrol foreign nationals.
The sharp escalation in Trump’s longstanding feud with the elite Cambridge, Massachusetts-based college came as tensions simmer between Washington and Beijing over trade and other issues.
Around 1,300 Chinese students are currently enrolled at Harvard, according to official figures, and hundreds of thousands more attend other universities in a country long viewed by many in China as a beacon of academic freedom and rigour.
Admissions consultant Xiaofeng Wan, who advises overseas students on getting into top US universities, told AFP he had been on the phone with panicked clients all evening.
“I’ve got questions not only from families but also from school-based college counsellors in China as well, including principals of high schools,” Wan said, speaking by phone from Massachusetts.
“They were all shocked by the news. They could not believe that this actually happened.”
On the streets of Beijing on Friday, budding international students told AFP they feared their scholarly ambitions were now hanging in the balance.
“I’m a bit panicked to be honest,” said Jennifer, who was planning to attend college in the United States this autumn.
While she did not intend to apply to Harvard, “budget cuts and enrollment restrictions affect all universities in the United States, regardless of where you apply”, said the 20-year-old, who declined to give her surname.
Jennifer said she worried Trump’s policies would “affect my chances of getting admitted” to her top choice, Ohio State University, which said last month that the federal government had revoked the visas of at least seven of its international students.
“My classmates and I feel like we don’t have any particularly good solutions to this issue, other than being pessimistic,” she said.
– ‘Sense of panic’ –
Trump has blasted Harvard for refusing to submit to government oversight on admissions and hiring, and has repeatedly claimed it is rife with anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that Thursday’s move would also hold Harvard “accountable for… coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus”, without giving details.
In a swift response, Harvard slammed the revocation as “unlawful”.
China’s foreign ministry was quick to criticise the move on Friday, saying the ban would “only harm the image and international standing of the United States”.
The number of Chinese students at American universities has been declining in recent years but still stood at nearly 280,000 in the 2023-24 academic year, according to figures from the US State Department and the Institute of International Education.
Entire industries have sprung up in China in recent decades as millions of people have risen into the middle class and ploughed money into lucrative foreign educations for their children.
“There’s a great sense of panic among the international student community, both current and prospective,” said Wan, the Massachusetts-based consultant.
They are “concerned that the country of the US is closing the door on them”, he said.
“(It’s) not helpful for a country that thrives on talents from abroad… and whose fundamental engine in research is supported by international talent.”
By AFP
May 23, 2025
Around 1,300 Chinese students are currently enrolled at Harvard, according to official figures - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Sophie Park
Celia Cazale and Matthew Walsh, with Agatha Cantrill in Shanghai
Dismayed Chinese students feared for their international futures on Friday after US President Donald Trump revoked Harvard University’s right to enrol foreign nationals.
The sharp escalation in Trump’s longstanding feud with the elite Cambridge, Massachusetts-based college came as tensions simmer between Washington and Beijing over trade and other issues.
Around 1,300 Chinese students are currently enrolled at Harvard, according to official figures, and hundreds of thousands more attend other universities in a country long viewed by many in China as a beacon of academic freedom and rigour.
Admissions consultant Xiaofeng Wan, who advises overseas students on getting into top US universities, told AFP he had been on the phone with panicked clients all evening.
“I’ve got questions not only from families but also from school-based college counsellors in China as well, including principals of high schools,” Wan said, speaking by phone from Massachusetts.
“They were all shocked by the news. They could not believe that this actually happened.”
On the streets of Beijing on Friday, budding international students told AFP they feared their scholarly ambitions were now hanging in the balance.
“I’m a bit panicked to be honest,” said Jennifer, who was planning to attend college in the United States this autumn.
While she did not intend to apply to Harvard, “budget cuts and enrollment restrictions affect all universities in the United States, regardless of where you apply”, said the 20-year-old, who declined to give her surname.
Jennifer said she worried Trump’s policies would “affect my chances of getting admitted” to her top choice, Ohio State University, which said last month that the federal government had revoked the visas of at least seven of its international students.
“My classmates and I feel like we don’t have any particularly good solutions to this issue, other than being pessimistic,” she said.
– ‘Sense of panic’ –
Trump has blasted Harvard for refusing to submit to government oversight on admissions and hiring, and has repeatedly claimed it is rife with anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X that Thursday’s move would also hold Harvard “accountable for… coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus”, without giving details.
In a swift response, Harvard slammed the revocation as “unlawful”.
China’s foreign ministry was quick to criticise the move on Friday, saying the ban would “only harm the image and international standing of the United States”.
The number of Chinese students at American universities has been declining in recent years but still stood at nearly 280,000 in the 2023-24 academic year, according to figures from the US State Department and the Institute of International Education.
Entire industries have sprung up in China in recent decades as millions of people have risen into the middle class and ploughed money into lucrative foreign educations for their children.
“There’s a great sense of panic among the international student community, both current and prospective,” said Wan, the Massachusetts-based consultant.
They are “concerned that the country of the US is closing the door on them”, he said.
“(It’s) not helpful for a country that thrives on talents from abroad… and whose fundamental engine in research is supported by international talent.”
Trump administration bars Harvard from admitting foreign students
Copyright Charles Krupa/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved
By Malek Fouda
Published on 23/05/2025
The Trump administration has intensified its battle with Harvard University, revoking their license to host international students for the upcoming academic year as it looks to crackdown on “left wing activism, liberalism”.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has rescinded Harvard University's ability to admit international students as part of its intensifying conflict with the Ivy League institution.
The Trump administration says that thousands of current students are required to either transfer to different universities or leave the country.
“This means Harvard can no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” stated the US Department of Homeland Security in a statement.
The agency made the announcement on Thursday, stating that Harvard has fostered an unsafe campus atmosphere by permitting "anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators" to attack Jewish students on its grounds.
Furthermore, it alleged that Harvard has collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party, claiming that it hosted and provided training to members of a Chinese paramilitary organisation as recently as 2024.
Harvard University has nearly 6,800 international students enrolled at its campus located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which represents over a quarter of its total student population.
The majority of these students are pursuing graduate studies and hail from more than 100 different countries.
Harvard called the action unlawful and said it's working to provide guidance to students.
“This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission,” the university said in a statement.
The conflict between the Trump administration and Harvard, the oldest and most affluent university in the United States, has escalated since Harvard became the first institution to openly resist the White House's requests for changes at elite schools that have been labelled as brewing grounds of liberalism and antisemitism.
The federal government has reduced federal grants to Harvard by $2.6 billion (€2.3 billion), forcing the university to self-finance a significant portion of its extensive research activities. Trump has expressed his desire to strip the university of its tax-exempt status.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says the decision to bar Harvard from hosting international students for the upcoming academic year stems from the school’s inability to comply with a 16 April request demanding information on foreign students.
Copyright Charles Krupa/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved
By Malek Fouda
Published on 23/05/2025
The Trump administration has intensified its battle with Harvard University, revoking their license to host international students for the upcoming academic year as it looks to crackdown on “left wing activism, liberalism”.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has rescinded Harvard University's ability to admit international students as part of its intensifying conflict with the Ivy League institution.
The Trump administration says that thousands of current students are required to either transfer to different universities or leave the country.
“This means Harvard can no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” stated the US Department of Homeland Security in a statement.
The agency made the announcement on Thursday, stating that Harvard has fostered an unsafe campus atmosphere by permitting "anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators" to attack Jewish students on its grounds.
Furthermore, it alleged that Harvard has collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party, claiming that it hosted and provided training to members of a Chinese paramilitary organisation as recently as 2024.
Harvard University has nearly 6,800 international students enrolled at its campus located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which represents over a quarter of its total student population.
The majority of these students are pursuing graduate studies and hail from more than 100 different countries.
Harvard called the action unlawful and said it's working to provide guidance to students.
“This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission,” the university said in a statement.
The conflict between the Trump administration and Harvard, the oldest and most affluent university in the United States, has escalated since Harvard became the first institution to openly resist the White House's requests for changes at elite schools that have been labelled as brewing grounds of liberalism and antisemitism.
The federal government has reduced federal grants to Harvard by $2.6 billion (€2.3 billion), forcing the university to self-finance a significant portion of its extensive research activities. Trump has expressed his desire to strip the university of its tax-exempt status.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says the decision to bar Harvard from hosting international students for the upcoming academic year stems from the school’s inability to comply with a 16 April request demanding information on foreign students.
The request from the Homeland Security department demanded the Ivy League university to provide data related to students who were involved in protests or dangerous activity on campus to be considered for deportation.
Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces the desired records on them within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage of the students.
Students in Harvard College Democrats said the Trump administration is playing with students’ lives to push a radical agenda and to quiet dissent.
“Trump's attack on international students is text book authoritarianism — Harvard must continue to hold the line,” the group said in a statement.
The administration drew condemnation from free speech groups, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which said Noem is demanding a “surveillance state.”
"This sweeping fishing expedition reaches protected expression and must be flatly rejected," the group said.
Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces the desired records on them within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage of the students.
Students in Harvard College Democrats said the Trump administration is playing with students’ lives to push a radical agenda and to quiet dissent.
“Trump's attack on international students is text book authoritarianism — Harvard must continue to hold the line,” the group said in a statement.
The administration drew condemnation from free speech groups, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which said Noem is demanding a “surveillance state.”
"This sweeping fishing expedition reaches protected expression and must be flatly rejected," the group said.
Trump attacks Harvard students: 'Can't add 2 and 2'
Sarah K. Burris
May 23, 2025
RAW STORY
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement about a trade deal with the U.K., in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
As part of his ongoing attack on Harvard University, President Donald Trump attacked students admitted to the Ivy League school, saying that students there "can't add."
While signing an executive order on an unrelated matter, Trump criticized "billions of dollars" given to Harvard by the government. The U.S. funds medical research and more. Last week, the U.S. National Science Foundation listed 193 grants worth nearly $150 million that were being terminated. There are also 56 grants from the U.S. Department of Defense worth $105 million that were canceled.
A reporter asked Trump whether he intends to target international students at any other universities.
Trump replied, "We're looking at a lot of things. Billions of dollars have been given to Harvard. How ridiculous is that? Billions."
He also cited Harvard's $52 billion endowment fund while charging "student loans."
The Associated Press reported in March that Harvard announced that any student whose family makes less than $200,000 will receive free tuition.
When asked why Trump wouldn't want some of the best and brightest to come to the United States, Trump promised he did, but that "a lot of them need remedial math."
"Did you see that? Where these students can't add two and two and they go to Harvard," Trump claimed.
All students who attend Harvard must take the SAT or ACT tests, their website says. Both tests ask significantly more complicated questions than simple addition, practice tests show.
"They're going to teach remedial math at Harvard," Trump said. "Now, wait a minute. So, why would they get in? How can somebody that can't add or has very basic skills, how do they get into Harvard? Why are they there? Then you see those same people picketing and screaming at the United States or screaming at, you know, they're antisemitic or they're something. We don't want troublemakers here. But how do people that can't — when Harvard comes out with a statement that they're going to teach some of their students remedial math — that's basic math, uh, that's not the deal."
Remedial math is not "basic math," which is simple addition, a remedial contemporary math final exam test at Study.com showed.
Trump was not admitted to Harvard, rather, he went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. The Washington Post’s Michael Kranish reported in 2019 that Trump was able to get an interview after his older brother made a call to the admissions office in 1966.
James Nolan, who recalled the interview with Trump to the Post, described Trump's dad, Fred Trump Sr., as seeking to "ingratiate" himself. He also said that Trump had a higher "acceptance score" based on his college experience. The acceptance rate in 1966 wasn't available on the school's website, but it showed that in 1980, the acceptance rate was "slightly greater than 40%." Trump bragged that getting into Penn was "super genius stuff." Nolan recounted, "it was not very difficult."
Trump was rejected from the University of Southern California and began his college career at Fordham's Bronx campus in 1964 until 1966, reported The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2016.
See the clip below or at the link here.
Sarah K. Burris
May 23, 2025
RAW STORY
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement about a trade deal with the U.K., in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
As part of his ongoing attack on Harvard University, President Donald Trump attacked students admitted to the Ivy League school, saying that students there "can't add."
While signing an executive order on an unrelated matter, Trump criticized "billions of dollars" given to Harvard by the government. The U.S. funds medical research and more. Last week, the U.S. National Science Foundation listed 193 grants worth nearly $150 million that were being terminated. There are also 56 grants from the U.S. Department of Defense worth $105 million that were canceled.
A reporter asked Trump whether he intends to target international students at any other universities.
Trump replied, "We're looking at a lot of things. Billions of dollars have been given to Harvard. How ridiculous is that? Billions."
He also cited Harvard's $52 billion endowment fund while charging "student loans."
The Associated Press reported in March that Harvard announced that any student whose family makes less than $200,000 will receive free tuition.
When asked why Trump wouldn't want some of the best and brightest to come to the United States, Trump promised he did, but that "a lot of them need remedial math."
"Did you see that? Where these students can't add two and two and they go to Harvard," Trump claimed.
All students who attend Harvard must take the SAT or ACT tests, their website says. Both tests ask significantly more complicated questions than simple addition, practice tests show.
"They're going to teach remedial math at Harvard," Trump said. "Now, wait a minute. So, why would they get in? How can somebody that can't add or has very basic skills, how do they get into Harvard? Why are they there? Then you see those same people picketing and screaming at the United States or screaming at, you know, they're antisemitic or they're something. We don't want troublemakers here. But how do people that can't — when Harvard comes out with a statement that they're going to teach some of their students remedial math — that's basic math, uh, that's not the deal."
Remedial math is not "basic math," which is simple addition, a remedial contemporary math final exam test at Study.com showed.
Trump was not admitted to Harvard, rather, he went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. The Washington Post’s Michael Kranish reported in 2019 that Trump was able to get an interview after his older brother made a call to the admissions office in 1966.
James Nolan, who recalled the interview with Trump to the Post, described Trump's dad, Fred Trump Sr., as seeking to "ingratiate" himself. He also said that Trump had a higher "acceptance score" based on his college experience. The acceptance rate in 1966 wasn't available on the school's website, but it showed that in 1980, the acceptance rate was "slightly greater than 40%." Trump bragged that getting into Penn was "super genius stuff." Nolan recounted, "it was not very difficult."
Trump was rejected from the University of Southern California and began his college career at Fordham's Bronx campus in 1964 until 1966, reported The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2016.
See the clip below or at the link here.
‘Extortion’: Ex-Harvard president blasts Trump’s act of ‘madness’
David Badash,
David Badash,
The New Civil Rights Movement
May 23, 2025
Demonstrators rally on Cambridge Common in a protest organized by the City of Cambridge calling on Harvard leadership to resist interference at the university by the federal government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. April 12, 2025. REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi
Former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers delivered sharp criticism of President Donald Trump and his administration for barring the nation’s oldest university from admitting foreign students—part of the President’s ongoing feud with several Ivy League institutions.
Harvard quickly sued the Trump administration. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against Trump’s efforts to revoke Harvard’s ability to admit foreign students, which comprise about one-quarter of the school’s total enrolled population.
“U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs’ order provides temporary relief to the thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Ivy League school called part of the administration’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to ‘surrender its academic independence,'” Reuters reported.
Summers, who not only helmed the nearly four-century-old Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution but also served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, took to social media to blast Trump and praise the school for fighting back.
“Harvard University is doing just the right thing,” Summers wrote. “This is extortion. It’s a vendetta using all powers of the government because of a political argument with Harvard. It is violating the First Amendment. It is also violating all the laws we have regarding administrative procedures.”
“The consequences are real,” he continued, “whether it’s students who are dissidents from tyrannies who are going to be sent home and possibly be imprisoned, whether it’s labs that are fighting cancer or diabetes, that are going to lose key people, whether it’s 7,000 people, some small fraction of whom are going to go on to be Prime Ministers of countries who’ve now been turned into enemies of the United States, whether it is the way in which America [is] seen when it expels people whose dream it was to come to Harvard to study, this is madness.”
And he criticized the move as a “gift” to enemy nations.
“I cannot imagine a greater strategic gift that we could be giving to China and Russia, the enemies of freedom around the world,” Summers wrote. “If this lawsuit is allowed to stand, it is going to be incredibly damaging to Harvard. But that is the least of it. It is much more profound in how damaging this will be to the standing, the role and the position of the U.S. We used to be a beacon to the world. We’re now becoming a negative example. I imagine there must be great joy in Beijing and Moscow, seeing us implode with these kinds of policies.”
Current Harvard University President Alan Garber in a letter wrote: “For those international students and scholars affected by yesterday’s action, know that you are vital members of our community. You are our classmates and friends, our colleagues and mentors, our partners in the work of this great institution. Thanks to you, we know more and understand more, and our country and our world are more enlightened and more resilient. We will support you as we do our utmost to ensure that Harvard remains open to the world.”
Others weighed in as well.
“America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don’t align politically with the current head of the government,” wrote former Biden Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
“When Trump and [DHS Secretary Kristi] Noem say that they are cutting off visas for Harvard students because of ‘DEI’ concerns, they mean that Harvard admits non white males and has non white male faculty. DEI is just now code for white male supremacy,” declared U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).
“The letter Noem sent to Harvard cites no law violated, no regulation broken, no policy ignored,” noted attorney and immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, “just a threat to punish Harvard for their refusal to hand over FIVE YEARS of video of every student protest at the university, among other things. THAT is weaponization of government.”
May 23, 2025
Demonstrators rally on Cambridge Common in a protest organized by the City of Cambridge calling on Harvard leadership to resist interference at the university by the federal government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. April 12, 2025. REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi
Former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers delivered sharp criticism of President Donald Trump and his administration for barring the nation’s oldest university from admitting foreign students—part of the President’s ongoing feud with several Ivy League institutions.
Harvard quickly sued the Trump administration. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against Trump’s efforts to revoke Harvard’s ability to admit foreign students, which comprise about one-quarter of the school’s total enrolled population.
“U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs’ order provides temporary relief to the thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Ivy League school called part of the administration’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to ‘surrender its academic independence,'” Reuters reported.
Summers, who not only helmed the nearly four-century-old Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution but also served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, took to social media to blast Trump and praise the school for fighting back.
“Harvard University is doing just the right thing,” Summers wrote. “This is extortion. It’s a vendetta using all powers of the government because of a political argument with Harvard. It is violating the First Amendment. It is also violating all the laws we have regarding administrative procedures.”
“The consequences are real,” he continued, “whether it’s students who are dissidents from tyrannies who are going to be sent home and possibly be imprisoned, whether it’s labs that are fighting cancer or diabetes, that are going to lose key people, whether it’s 7,000 people, some small fraction of whom are going to go on to be Prime Ministers of countries who’ve now been turned into enemies of the United States, whether it is the way in which America [is] seen when it expels people whose dream it was to come to Harvard to study, this is madness.”
And he criticized the move as a “gift” to enemy nations.
“I cannot imagine a greater strategic gift that we could be giving to China and Russia, the enemies of freedom around the world,” Summers wrote. “If this lawsuit is allowed to stand, it is going to be incredibly damaging to Harvard. But that is the least of it. It is much more profound in how damaging this will be to the standing, the role and the position of the U.S. We used to be a beacon to the world. We’re now becoming a negative example. I imagine there must be great joy in Beijing and Moscow, seeing us implode with these kinds of policies.”
Current Harvard University President Alan Garber in a letter wrote: “For those international students and scholars affected by yesterday’s action, know that you are vital members of our community. You are our classmates and friends, our colleagues and mentors, our partners in the work of this great institution. Thanks to you, we know more and understand more, and our country and our world are more enlightened and more resilient. We will support you as we do our utmost to ensure that Harvard remains open to the world.”
Others weighed in as well.
“America cannot long remain free, nor first among nations, if it becomes the kind of place where universities are dismantled because they don’t align politically with the current head of the government,” wrote former Biden Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
“When Trump and [DHS Secretary Kristi] Noem say that they are cutting off visas for Harvard students because of ‘DEI’ concerns, they mean that Harvard admits non white males and has non white male faculty. DEI is just now code for white male supremacy,” declared U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).
“The letter Noem sent to Harvard cites no law violated, no regulation broken, no policy ignored,” noted attorney and immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, “just a threat to punish Harvard for their refusal to hand over FIVE YEARS of video of every student protest at the university, among other things. THAT is weaponization of government.”
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