U.S. soft power is a casualty in Trump's war on Harvard

Japan Times

a day ago

By all appearances, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has declared war on Harvard University.
It has demanded changes in university policy that would give it a veto over much of its academic activities. When Harvard refused, the government cut all federal grants and contracts with the school. The steps are unprecedented and likely to fail as courts block the most onerous measures.
That is not likely to undo the damage that is being done to the United States' international image and the country itself. Its educational institutions have been the envy of the world, one of its most powerful exports and a source of considerable economic activity and advantage. The fight against Harvard, which is only the most contentious front in a wider war against educational institutions that insist on maintaining their independence from Trump administration dictates, will do extensive and potentially irreparable injury. It is an extraordinary act of self-harm.
The Trump administration has steadily, inexorably, squeezed Harvard University, the country's oldest, most prestigious and wealthiest institution of higher learning. The administration has accused the school of fomenting antisemitism and failing to protect its students against that scourge. In addition, it is charged with promoting liberalism and diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has launched at least eight investigations from at least six federal agencies, the Departments of Justice, Education and Health and Human Services among them. It has sought fundamental changes in the way that the university operates and the school's refusal to bend to those dictates — even while acknowledging the need for some reform — infuriated the White House and prompted it to double and triple down.
When the school filed a lawsuit last month to challenge the government's demands, the Trump administration cut $3.2 billion in federal funding for the university; in the face of continued defiance, the White House this week announced that it would cut another $100 million in grants, which would constitute 'a complete severance' with the school. The government has also announced that it would end Harvard's ability to enroll international students — warning that foreign students must transfer elsewhere or risk their visa status — and has threatened its tax-exempt status.
Resistance was not ordained. When it faced charges of failing to protect its students against antisemitism, letting professors promote views that were counter to U.S. foreign policy and was threatened with the loss of $400 million in federal funding, Columbia University caved. So too did several prestigious law firms when they found themselves in the administration's crosshairs.
Harvard did not. President Alan Garber has published letters to the school community saying that the university would not 'surrender our academic independence' and 'submit to the federal government's illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty and our student body.' While noting that Harvard had made changes to its governance and developed a strategy to combat antisemitism, it would not bend on 'its core, legally-protected principles' because of fears of retaliation.
It has filed two suits alleging that the Trump administration is acting unconstitutionally and is retaliating against Harvard's resistance. The university said that it complied with federal government mandates for information on students but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demanded more files related to foreign students, including disciplinary records and records related to 'dangerous or violent activity.'
Harvard has also sought temporary restraining orders to block the government's actions. Courts have been receptive to Harvard's claims that the administration is overreaching. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the effort to stop Harvard from enrolling international students.
The punishment imposed on Harvard is a lesson for other schools. Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security, has been explicit: 'Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.' The suggestion that the U.S. government could revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status is another shot across the bow — even though it is illegal for any federal official to direct an IRS investigation against an entity.
The opportunity to study in the U.S. is, insist Trump administration officials, 'a privilege, not a right.' Reports that the State Department has frozen all foreign students' visa applications while it considers new guidelines for screening their social media accounts confirms that while Harvard may be a special case, there is a larger effort to transform the U.S. educational ecosystem.
It isn't clear why. There were more than 1.1 million foreign students in the U.S. in 2023-2024. There are about 7,000 foreign students at Harvard, 27% of the student body. Some schools have more. Foreign students typically pay full tuition and get little or no financial assistance. Denying them admission will transform university finances and force other students to make up the difference. Advanced education will get more expensive for all who seek to attend.
The economic benefits of their attendance extend well beyond the school walls. It is estimated that international students contributed just under $44 billion to the U.S. economy when their housing and other living expenses are tallied.
More than half of postdoctoral researchers at Harvard are foreigners. They are critical to research that has produced critical breakthroughs in medicine, science, technology and other fields. The elimination of federal grants and assistance will do similar damage to vital research efforts.
Since Trump took office, just four months ago, it is estimated that there have been $11 billion in cuts to federal spending on university research. Barbara Snyder, president of the Association of American Universities, is right to warn that these moves threaten U.S. 'leadership in science and innovation and its prosperity.'
While the economic impact of those cuts can be estimated, the losses to U.S. influence and image are incalculable. These policies have nurtured the belief that the U.S. is no longer welcoming of foreigners, as visitors or immigrants, an idea that has been fundamental to the nation since it was founded. The freedom to pursue intellectual inquiry wherever it goes — to dream, to venture, to explore — has been the lubricant of the engine of American success.
Other countries recognize the impact of those policies and are moving to seize the opportunities they create. The University of Tokyo is reportedly considering temporarily accepting some of the Harvard students whose future is being derailed by the Trump administration's policies. Other top universities are as well, aiming to cultivate the students, researchers and professors that might have otherwise worked and studied in the U.S.
U.S. universities have been the envy of the world. Now they are another battleground in an ever more pitched political struggle. The collateral damage is appalling.
The Japan Times Editorial Board