Breaking down claim student from Norway was evacuated from Harvard
In late May 2025, a rumor circulated online that a Norwegian student was evacuated from Harvard University because of safety concerns.
For example, one X user shared (archived) a screenshot of a Threads post discussing the alleged repatriation, which it called "hauntingly symbolic." Without elaborating, the post also cited safety as the reason for evacuating the student.
The X post had amassed more than 790,000 views as of this writing, while the Threads post (archived) had been liked more than 32,000 times. The post read in full:
Norway just evacuated a student from Harvard—not a war zone, but an American university. As someone who now resides in Sweden, I find it hauntingly symbolic. The "land of the free" was never truly free—just expertly packaged.
When Nordic countries start extracting their citizens from Ivy League campuses for safety, it's not just a red flag. It's a siren.
The screen capture and variations of the claim also appeared elsewhere on Threads as well as on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and LinkedIn. Additionally, Snopes readers searched the site seeking to verify whether the rumor was true.
Independent Norwegian publication Khrono originally reported this repatriation. Khrono, an outlet for news on higher education and research, published a story on May 23, 2025, saying one Norwegian student on an Aker Scholarship at Harvard had been evacuated.
The Aker Scholarship sponsors Norwegian students seeking master's degrees and Ph.D.s at universities across the world. According to Khrono, the initiative's CEO, Bjørn Blindheim, said he had called an emergency meeting on May 22 shortly after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced (archived) that Harvard had "lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification."
Snopes has contacted the Khrono reporter who wrote the article, Blindheim and the Aker Scholarship, asking them to confirm the story. We have chosen not to issue a rating for this claim until we receive responses from one or more of them.
Noem's announcement followed a standoff between Harvard and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which threatened to pull federal funding from the university unless it complied with the administration's request for an audit and its new rules on "viewpoint diversity." Unlike other higher education institutions, Harvard chose to resist what it saw as an encroachment on its academic freedom, leading the Trump administration to retaliate.
The Department of Homeland Security advised international students at Harvard, who between 2024 and 2025 made up 27.2% of the university's student body, to transfer to other schools in the U.S. or lose their student visas.
Khrono said Blindheim cited uncertainty about the student's visa as the reason for the emergency repatriation, not safety concerns, as claimed in the above social media posts. The outlet also said that the student did not want to be named.
While Harvard filed a lawsuit on May 23 against Noem's announcement, obtaining a temporary restraining order against the termination of its certification, Khrono said the student immediately flew back to Norway and landed in Oslo on May 23.
Snopes has reported on several rumors related to the standoff between Harvard and the Trump administration, including one that falsely claimed that Trump targeted Harvard after his son Barron had been rejected from the university.
Aker Scholarship. "Aker Scholarship - Administration." Aker Scholarship - NO, 2024, www.akerscholarship.no/administrasjon. Accessed 28 May 2025.
---. "Aker Scholarship - NO." Aker Scholarship - NO, 2024, www.akerscholarship.no/. Accessed 28 May 2025.
Christensen, Laerke. "Clarifying Claims Surrounding Harvard's Free Constitution Course." Snopes, Snopes.com, 27 May 2025, www.snopes.com/fact-check/harvard-constitution-course/. Accessed 28 May 2025.
---. "No Proof Harvard Marked up Letter from Linda McMahon Announcing End to New Federal Grants." Snopes, Snopes.com, 7 May 2025, www.snopes.com/fact-check/harvard-linda-mcmahon-letter-grants/. Accessed 28 May 2025.
Closson, Troy. "Columbia Concedes to Trump's Demands after Federal Funds Are Stripped." The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/nyregion/columbia-response-trump-demands.html. Accessed 28 May 2025..
Archive: https://archive.is/a7qn0.
Deng, Grace. "Unpacking Claim Barron Trump Was Rejected from Harvard, Columbia, Stanford." Snopes, Snopes.com, 21 Apr. 2025, www.snopes.com/news/2025/04/21/columbia-harvard-stanford-barron-trump/. Accessed 28 May 2025.
"Harvard University Loses Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certification for Pro-Terrorist Conduct | Homeland Security." U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2024, www.dhs.gov/news/2025/05/22/harvard-university-loses-student-and-exchange-visitor-program-certification-pro. Accessed 28 May 2025.
Hystad, Joar. "Norsk Stiftelse Evakuerte En Av Sine Harvard-Studenter I Natt. Landet I Oslo Fredag." Khrono.no, 23 May 2025, www.khrono.no/norsk-stiftelse-evakuerte-en-av-sine-harvard-studenter-i-natt-landet-i-oslo-fredag/971415. Accessed 28 May 2025..
Translation: https://www-khrono-no.translate.goog/norsk-stiftelse-evakuerte-en-av-sine-harvard-studenter-i-natt-landet-i-oslo-fredag/971415?_x_tr_sl=no&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR5f6ZAIzKIohvDaLt3O1HVRQrwcAH2mGof1oEI4OblAPF1_2jQyVTaB1NdL6A_aem_Q-H64SMgUErPnqhLVpCMfw&trk=public_post_comment-text.
"International Students at Harvard | One Harvard, One World." Harvard.edu, oneworld.worldwide.harvard.edu/international-students-at-harvard/. Accessed 28 May 2025.
Lee, Janet W., and Elissa Nadworny. "Judge Blocks Trump Admin's Move to Bar Harvard from Enrolling International Students." NPR, 23 May 2025, www.npr.org/2025/05/23/nx-s1-5408987/harvard-international-students-lawsuit-trump. Accessed 28 May 2025.
Letter Sent to Harvard. Available at: https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Letter-Sent-to-Harvard-2025-04-11.pdf. Accessed 28 May 2025.
Mannweiler, Laura. "Harvard Takes on Trump: The Standoff, Explained." US News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 2025, www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2025-05-27/the-standoff-between-harvard-and-the-trump-administration-explained. Accessed 28 May 2025.
Mao, William C., and Veronica H. Paulus. "Trump's Demands to Harvard, Analyzed | News | the Harvard Crimson." Thecrimson.com, 2023, www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/4/15/trump-demands-analysis/. Accessed 28 May 2025.
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