by WorldTribune Staff, May 23, 2025 Real World News
Harvard University is one of the world’s most prestigious institutions, long regarded as a symbol of American exceptionalism. That was then (before MAGA), and this is now (There is nothing “woke” about the 47th U.S. president.).
Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has been focuses on fixing what’s broke about the American brand. “Fake news” and Harvard University have invoked his wrath which he shows by withholding taxpayer funding and more.
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump Administration’s move to stop Harvard University from enrolling international students.
More than 25% of Harvard’s student body are foreign students and most of them pay full tuition. That tuition for the 2024-25 academic year was $59,320.
On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it was blocking Harvard’s authority to enroll foreign students because it believed the Ivy League institution had failed to create a safe campus environment for students, especially Jewish ones. DHS alleged that many “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus were foreign students.
Harvard sued the Trump Administration over the move.
U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, an Obama appointee, granted the university a temporary restraining order on Friday.
The ruling doesn’t permanently resolve the matter but allows Harvard to continue enrolling foreign students for now.
In order to enroll at U.S. colleges and universities, foreign students are required to be certified by the federal government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows noncitizens to study in the U.S. under student visas. The program collects and analyzes information to make sure that only legitimate foreign students are allowed into the country. It also ensures that schools enrolling foreign students are following federal regulations.
On Thursday, DHS revoked Harvard’s certification in that program.
The revocation came after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last month ordered Harvard to turn over records of foreign student visa holders’ “illegal and violent activities” by April 30.
Harvard claims it produced the information on April 30, and on May 14 produced more information in response to a follow-up request.
Noem said Harvard’s response was insufficient, and she revoked the school’s certification in the student visa program.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments,” Noem said.
The Trump Administration has already pulled billions of dollars in federal research funding from Harvard and threatened to revoke its tax exempt status, citing concerns about antisemitism and ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon on May 5 announced the end of new grant funding to the university. Some $2.7 billion in federal funding to Harvard has been halted, reports estimate. That includes the freezing of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts announced in April and some $450 million in terminations announced in May.
The Department of Health and Human Services also said in mid-May it was terminating several multi-year grant awards totaling nearly $60 million to Harvard, citing antisemitism.
In March, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alerted 60 higher education institutions, including Harvard, that they could face enforcement action if they didn’t protect Jewish students.
The administration also reportedly asked the Internal Revenue Service to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status, which Trump said is “totally contingent on acting in the public interest.” Such a move would cost the university hundreds of millions a year.
In a letter to Harvard in April, the Trump Administration outlined a series of demands to “maintain” its “financial relationship with the federal government.”
Revive the American Free Press!
Trump hits Harvard where it hurts: Lucrative foreign tuitions added by Editor Two on May 23, 2025
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