The Trump Administration has taken a dramatic step in its ongoing clash with Harvard University, blocking the school from admitting international students, according to a report from the Associated Press. This latest action stems from Harvard’s alleged unwillingness to confront growing antisemitism on its campus, fueling the intensifying legal standoff between the government and the Ivy League institution.
As a result of this decision, current international students enrolled at Harvard are being forced to either transfer to another academic institution or leave the United States altogether.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a letter to the university outlining the move: “I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked.”
This follows an earlier move by the Trump Administration, which withdrew $2.2 billion in federal funds from Harvard. Officials explained that the cut was prompted by the university’s failure to adequately respond to antisemitic behavior and alleged racial discrimination occurring on its campus.
In a broader push, President Donald Trump has also called for stripping Harvard of its tax-exempt status, adding to the growing list of punitive measures.
In an effort to fight back, Harvard recently filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the federal funding freeze. The university claims it is temporarily covering the budget shortfall using its $53.2 billion endowment but cautions that this is not a sustainable solution. “Without the federal funding at issue, Harvard would need to operate at a significantly reduced level,” the lawsuit states.
A few weeks earlier, Harvard released two internal assessments examining bias on campus, focusing on incidents involving Jewish, Muslim, and Arab students during last year’s protest activity. The findings revealed that certain students felt silenced or sidelined for expressing their political beliefs.
{Matzav.com}