Trump administration threatens Harvard with foreign student ban

• Posted on April 17, 2025April 17, 2025
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The US government has threatened to ban Harvard University from enrolling foreign students, after the institution said it would not bow to demands from Donald Trump’s administration.

The White House has demanded the oldest university in the US make changes to hiring, admissions and teaching practices which it says will help fight antisemitism on campus.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday accused the Ivy League school of “threatening national security” and “bending the knee to antisemitism”.

She also demanded records on its foreign student visa holders’ “illegal and violent” activities. International students make up more than 27% of Harvard’s enrolment this year.

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“The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a message on Monday to the Harvard community.

Billions of dollars hang in the balance for the university – authorities have frozen $2.2 bn (£1.7bn) in federal funds, while Trump earlier threatened to also remove a valuable text exemption, the loss of which could cost Harvard millions of dollars each year.

“Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.

“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds.”

The administration’s attacks on Harvard are not isolated.

During his presidential campaign, Trump pitched a funding crackdown on universities, painting them as hostile to conservatives.

Since taking office, his administration has focused particularly on colleges where pro-Palestinian protests have taken place. Some Jewish students have said they felt unsafe and faced harassment on campus.

The government’s antisemitism task force, formed in February, has identified at least 60 universities for review.

In March, Columbia University, agreed to several of the administration’s demands, after $400m (£310m) in federal funding was pulled over accusations the university failed to fight antisemitism on campus.

These included replacing the official leading its Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies department and pledging to take on a review to “ensure unbiased admission processes”.

Harvard too has made concessions.

Last month, it dismissed the leaders of its Center for Middle Eastern Studies, who had come under fire for failing to represent Israeli perspectives.

Harvard has not publicly responded to Noem’s latest demands.

-BBC