Trump vs Harvard: Why the US govt wants to freeze university’s foreign student intake
Harvard is the first premier American university to openly defy Trump’s orders. Why has the government cracked down on universities, and what has Harvard argued?
The Donald Trump administration on Wednesday (April 16) escalated its ongoing confrontation with American universities by threatening to cease the enrolment of foreign students at Harvard University. Earlier this week, the government froze over $2.2 billion in federal funds to Harvard University and said its tax-exempt status could be removed.
The move follows Harvard’s refusal to comply with White House demands on hiring, admissions, and teaching practices. Former US President and Harvard alumnus Barack Obama praised the university’s stance, saying it “set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom… Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”
On Wednesday, the US Department of Homeland Security announced ending the enrolment of foreign students if the university did not share information on “detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities by April 30, 2025.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said two DHS grants totalling more than $2.7 million have also been cancelled.
Harvard is the first university to openly defy Trump’s orders. Its president, Alan Garber, wrote in a letter on the Harvard website, “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement. The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
Critics have viewed the Trump administration’s three-month campaign against universities as more about shifting academia’s perceived liberal bias than addressing campus concerns. Trump reinforced this view Friday, calling Harvard faculty “woke, Radical Left idiots” who teach “FAILURE,” while declaring the institution “should no longer receive Federal Funds.”
What triggered the Trump administration’s crackdown on higher education institutions?
The crackdown was foreshadowed during Trump’s presidential campaign, where he proposed a “free speech policy initiative” to cut off federal funding to universities accused of censorship. However, the catalyst was Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel and the Israeli military action subsequently unleashed on the Gaza Strip.
As pro-Palestinian demonstrations spread across American universities, Trump cited the alleged harassment of Jewish students as justification for federal intervention. Upon taking office, Trump transformed campaign rhetoric into policy.