Trump Attack on Harvard Students Reverberates Across World

The Trump administration's decision to bar foreign students at Harvard University is seen as a blow to the US's standing in business and an advantage to elite rival colleges across the English-speaking world.

The move is expected to have a chilling effect on foreign students, with many already thinking twice about studying in the US, and some considering alternative destinations such as the UK, Canada, and English-language programs across Asia.

The decision is seen as a "devastating, self-inflicted wound" that will damage America's reputation and benefit the university systems of other countries, with many warning that it will hurt US competitiveness and undermine the country's influence in the world. Gautam Mukunda, Executive Fellow at Yale School of Management, joins to discuss the future of Harvard.

Harvard University won a temporary court order blocking the Trump administration from enforcing a ban on international students at the school, giving it a win in a high-stakes legal fight with broad implications for higher education in the US.

US District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled on Friday that the government can’t enforce the ban, which it imposed the day before. Burroughs issued her ruling just hours after Harvard sued the US in Boston federal court. She granted the university a temporary restraining order, finding that it would sustain “immediate and irreparable injury” if the Department of Homeland Security directive went into effect.

The directive threatens to deliver a crippling blow to the oldest and richest US university and escalates the government’s fight with elite colleges.

The US has said it is acting against Harvard over the school’s handling of antisemitism on campus and government demands for more oversight of foreign students. Harvard counters that President Donald Trump has gone far beyond the measures the federal government can legally take to resolve such a problem at a university.

Friday’s ruling means Harvard won’t have to immediately stop enrolling international students, which would affect about a quarter of the student body. In its lawsuit, Harvard is asking the judge to declare that the government’s directive illegally violates the university’s free speech and due process rights and fails to follow federal regulations. The TRO will remain in place until the court rules on Harvard’s request for a longer-lasting injunction. A hearing on that request is set for May 29.

“We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a statement. “It imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.”

The US directive has thrust thousands of foreign students into limbo. Both the suddenness and timing of the move have left current and accepted students struggling to figure out what to do next. Almost 6,800 Harvard students, 27% of the student body, come from other countries, up from 19.6% in 2006, according to the university’s data.

The White House said the university’s priorities were misplaced.

“If only Harvard cared this much about ending the scourge of anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist agitators on their campus, they wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the lawsuit “seeks to kneecap the president’s constitutionally vested powers” and that “it is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments.”

Escalating Fight

Burroughs is also overseeing an earlier suit the university filed against the Trump administration, over its freeze of more than $2.6 billion in funding. Some legal experts say the court is likely to find that the government’s actions lack a reasoned basis and smack of punishing Harvard for political reasons.d.

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