“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
So declared the long-storied Ivy League institution in its fierce rebuttal against the Trump administration.
According to a report from The Hill, Harvard University is incensed by the Trump administration’s recent decision to block Harvard from enrolling international students.
“Harvard University is suing the Trump administration a day after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked its certification to admit foreign students, an escalation of its fight with the institution and an effort to hit its wallet,” The Hill detailed.
And Harvard is quite angry, to put it mildly, as evidenced in its complaint.
“For more than 70 years, Harvard University (‘Harvard’ or the ‘University’) has
been certified by the federal government to enroll international students under the F-1 visa program, and it has long been designated as an exchange program sponsor to host J-1 nonimmigrants. Harvard has, over this time, developed programs and degrees tailored to its international students, invested millions to recruit the most talented such students, and integrated its international students into all aspects of the Harvard community. Yesterday, the government abruptly revoked that certification without process or cause, to immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders,” the lawsuit details.
The lawsuit also declares that the Trump administration’s most recent decision is a direct result of the “refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government’s illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty and our student body.”
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” the lawsuit detailed.
One in four students at Harvard University was from overseas? That’s rather substantial.
“Harvard’s protected conduct – the exercise of its academic prerogatives and the
refusal to relinquish that freedom – was a substantial or motivating factor for this adverse action,” the lawsuit added.
In essence, the lawsuit just about accuses Trump of violating the Constitution entirely.
Until the lawsuit does actually segue into such constitutional accusations.
“The surrounding circumstances also make plain that Defendants have withdrawn Harvard’s SEVP certification not for any valid reason, but because they seek to punish the University for its courage in refusing to surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights under the First Amendment,” the lawsuit pointedly declares.
Yikes.
The lawsuit may be reviewed in its entirety here.
Needless to say, the Trump administration’s latest salvo against Harvard University is indicative of far more to come towards higher education institutions in the future.
Author: Ofelia Thornton
