Some are Supreme Court justices. Others are former presidents. More are business tycoons, famous actors and high-powered lawyers.
Harvard University's alumni – nearly half a million strong – include some of the most powerful and wealthy people in the United States. Donations to their alma mater amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Since President Donald Trump began targeting the Ivy League campus as part of a pressure campaign to reform American colleges, Harvard has come to need the public and financial support of its alumni more than ever.
In mid-April, the Trump administration froze billions in federal funding at the school, alleging its administrators had violated civil rights laws because they hadn't taken steps to curb antisemitism.
Then, in early May, the president threatened to rescind the university's tax-exempt status, which could cost the school hundreds of millions, by some estimates. A few weeks later, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students, many of whom conduct important research and tend to bring in more tuition dollars than domestic students. A federal judge has indefinitely paused that move.
