Harvard grads celebrate while its lawyers eke out another reprieve for international students

CNN

a day ago

For a few hours Thursday, Harvard and its Class of 2025 turned their focus to all graduates had accomplished for a ceremony that also often heralded the prowess of the nation's oldest and wealthiest university amid its ongoing legal showdown with the Trump administration.
Under overcast skies, the university's 374th commencement was marked by moments of unbridled joy as students and their families celebrated. Harvard President Alan Garber, who has become the face of the school's historic First Amendment fight, got a minute-long standing ovation from graduates as the event began.
Garber welcomed the Class of 2025 'from down the street, across the country and around the world … just as it should be' – a nod to the nearly simultaneous federal court hearing in Boston over the university's ability to enroll international students.
As the campus ceremony unfolded, US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs granted Harvard a reprieve, saying she would order the Trump administration to not make any changes to Harvard's student visa program, indefinitely.
Here are some additional highlights from Harvard's commencement ceremony:
Ahead of the event, an alumni group passed out ' Crimson Courage ' stickers and leaflets to students processing in, and a small group of pro-Palestinian supporters, who did not appear to be students, gathered outside the gates of Harvard Yard. Later, pro-Palestinian banners were unfurled, then quickly removed, from campus buildings.
Student speakers subtly acknowledged the Trump administration's moves and how the university has changed during their time at Harvard. One said Harvard's motto of 'Veritas,' or 'Truth,' in part, is worth defending.
Senior Thor Reimann told fellow graduates Harvard is 'at the center of a national battle over higher education' and reminded them Harvard has 'led the way through chaos before.'
Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang, a graduate from China, used her speech to urge the audience to fight for 'the promise of a connected world' and see the humanity in people they disagree with.
Legendary actress Rita Moreno received an honorary Doctorate of Arts and joined Harvard student Carolyn Hao in singing the final note of the ballad, 'Somewhere,' from 'West Side Story,' the musical in which Moreno starred decades ago.
The university also awarded NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with an honorary doctorate of laws. In a Wednesday speech on campus, he said: 'When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard to give up their academic freedom and destroy free speech, (Harvard President) Dr. Alan Garber rejected the illegal and immoral pressures the way Rosa Parks defied the entire weight of systemic racism in 1955.'
Dr. Abraham Verghese – the bestselling author, Stanford University professor and infectious disease expert – delivered a powerful commencement address that recognized the 'unprecedented' times facing Harvard.
Verghese, an immigrant to the United States from Ethiopia, spoke of how his native country suffered under an autocratic dictator and the lessons he learned from caring for patients early in the AIDS epidemic. 'Part of what makes America great, if I may use that phrase, is that it allows an immigrant like me to blossom,' Verghese said, later adding his patients dying from AIDS taught him 'love trumps all bigotry.'