In a Tuesday evening protest on campus, Harvard students lambasted President Donald Trump for targeting the school’s international students as the White House continues to ramp up attacks on the Ivy League university.
“In his attempt to dictate our speech and take over this university, Trump is willing to use all internationals as poker chips, as collateral. It is deeply, deeply dehumanizing,” said graduating senior Leo Gerdén, an international student from Sweden, who wore a cap and gown to the protest. “We never wanted to take this fight, but we have no choice but to take it. Because if we start to give in, he’s going to demand even more.”
The Trump administration took aim at Harvard’s international students last week, revoking the university’s ability to enroll them. It’s a move that could affect as many as 6,800 students at the school — nearly 30% of the student body — forcing them to transfer or lose their legal status. And it’s since been contested by Harvard and blocked by a federal judge, though a final ruling about its legality is still to come.
This act is just one of many Trump has taken to undermine Harvard after it refused to comply with the White House’s demands to change hiring policies and curriculum, and to combat what the administration has described as antisemitism on campus.
