Latest news with #AbdullahShahidSial
Arab News
29-05-2025
- General
- Arab News
Pakistanis among foreign students wary as Trump expands crackdown on elite universities
Cambridge, United States: Donald Trump's expanding crackdown on elite universities is prompting some international students to abandon applications to campuses in the United States and spreading stress and anxiety among those already enrolled. The president has upended the country's reputation among foreign students, who number around one million, as he presses a campaign against US universities he sees as obstructing his 'Make America Great Again' populist agenda. He has blocked Harvard hosting international scholars in a maneuver being challenged legally, targeted non-citizen campus activists for deportation, and most recently suspended student visa processing across the board. Harvard applied mathematics and economic student Abdullah Shahid Sial, 20, said the Trump administration's campaign against US universities that the president accused of being hotbeds of liberal bias and anti-Semitism had been 'dehumanizing.' 'It's really unfortunate that this is the case for 18, 19, and 20-year-olds who came here without any family, and in most cases, haven't been to the US before,' said Sial, who is from Pakistan and hopes to be able to return to Harvard next academic year. Sial said he advised acquaintances to have backup plans if US colleges became inaccessible, and that a friend applied to Harvard's law school, as well as Columbia's, and two less reputable British institutions — ultimately opting to go to the UK. 'He definitely liked Harvard way more (but) he doesn't want this amount of uncertainty surrounding his education,' Sial said. Karl Molden, a Harvard government and classics student from Austria, said Trump's move to block the university from hosting and enrolling foreign students meant he was unsure if he would be able to return after summer vacation. While that decision — affecting some 27 percent of the overall Harvard population — was paused by a judge pending a hearing Thursday, the move still threw student plans into chaos. 'I kind of figured I would be in the target group of Trump. I'm personally right in the middle of it, so an option for me would be to study abroad... I have applied to study at Oxford because of all the action' taken by Trump, said Molden, 21. 'It's just really hard' Harvard academics say they have already started to feel the impact of Trump's vendetta against the school, in feedback from colleagues based outside the United States. 'I've already heard this from professors in other countries who say 'we encourage our best students to go to the United States',' Harvard professor Ryan Enos told AFP at a noisy rally against Trump's policies Tuesday, adding 'we wonder if we can tell them that anymore.' The halt to visa processing revealed this week is reportedly to allow for more stringent screening of applicants' social media — and protest activity. 'International students already represent the most tracked and vetted category of nonimmigrants in the United States. It is a poor use of taxpayer dollars,' said the NAFSA Association of International Educators non-profit. Trump, meanwhile, continued his assault on Harvard, saying university leaders have 'got to behave themselves. 'Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they're doing is getting in deeper and deeper,' he said Wednesday in the White House. One Spanish student of politics and statistics, who declined to be named for fear of retaliation, told AFP she would not be deterred from pursuing her planned year abroad at Columbia University. 'It's scary, because we think to ourselves that all our activity on social networks could be monitored, for example, if we like pro-Palestinian posts or anti-Trump posts. All of that could see us denied a visa,' she said. Students due to return to Harvard after the summer break are in limbo pending a ruling on Harvard's exclusion from the foreign student system. 'I'm completely in the dark,' said 20-year-old Alfred Williamson, a Welsh-Danish physics and government student in his second year at Harvard. 'As for my other options, and like all other international students, I'm just clinging on to the hope that Harvard will win this battle against the White House.' Sial, the Harvard student from Pakistan, said foreign students like him were 'made to fight this battle which no one signed up for.' 'It's really unfortunate that it's come down to that.'
CNA
28-05-2025
- General
- CNA
Foreign students wary of US as Trump presses 'dehumanising' campaign
Donald Trump's expanding crackdown on elite universities is prompting some international students to abandon applications to campuses in the United States and spreading stress and anxiety among those already enrolled. The president has damaged the country's reputation among foreign students, who number around one million, as he pursues a campaign against US universities he views as hindering his Make America Great Again populist agenda. He has blocked Harvard from hosting international scholars in a manoeuvre being challenged legally, targeted non-citizen campus activists for deportation, and most recently, suspended student visa processing across the board. Harvard applied mathematics and economics student Abdullah Shahid Sial, 20, said the Trump administration's campaign against US universities, which the president accused of being hotbeds of liberal bias and antisemitism, had been "dehumanising". "It's really unfortunate that this is the case for 18, 19, and 20-year-olds who came here without any family, and in most cases, haven't been to the US before," said Sial, who is from Pakistan and hopes to be able to return to Harvard next academic year. Sial said he advised acquaintances to have backup plans if US colleges became inaccessible, and that a friend applied to Harvard's law school, as well as Columbia's, and two less reputable British institutions, ultimately opting to go to the UK. "He definitely liked Harvard way more (but) he doesn't want this amount of uncertainty surrounding his education," Sial said. Karl Molden, a Harvard government and classics student from Austria, said Trump's move to block the university from hosting and enrolling foreign students meant he was unsure if he would be able to return after summer vacation. "IN THE DARK" While that decision - affecting some 27 per cent of the overall Harvard population - was paused by a judge pending a hearing Thursday (May 29), the move still threw student plans into chaos. "I kind of figured I would be in the target group of Trump. I'm personally right in the middle of it, so an option for me would be to study abroad ... I have applied to study at Oxford because of all the action taken by Trump," said Molden, 21. "It's just really hard." Harvard academics say they have already started to feel the impact of Trump's vendetta against the school, in feedback from colleagues based outside the United States. "I've already heard this from professors in other countries who say 'we encourage our best students to go to the United States'," Harvard professor Ryan Enos told AFP at a noisy rally against Trump's policies Tuesday, adding, "We wonder if we can tell them that anymore". The halt to visa processing revealed this week is reportedly to allow for more stringent screening of applicants' social media and protest activity. "International students already represent the most tracked and vetted category of nonimmigrants in the United States. It is a poor use of taxpayer dollars," said the NAFSA Association of International Educators non-profit. Trump, meanwhile, continued his assault on Harvard, saying university leaders have "got to behave themselves. "Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they're doing is getting in deeper and deeper," he said Wednesday in the White House. One Spanish student of politics and statistics, who declined to be named for fear of retaliation, told AFP she would not be deterred from pursuing her planned year abroad at Columbia University. "It's scary, because we think to ourselves that all our activity on social networks could be monitored, for example, if we like pro-Palestinian posts or anti-Trump posts. All of that could see us denied a visa," she said. Students due to return to Harvard after the summer break are in limbo pending a ruling on Harvard's exclusion from the foreign student system. "I'm completely in the dark," said 20-year-old Alfred Williamson, a Welsh-Danish physics and government student in his second year at Harvard. "As for my other options, and like all other international students, I'm just clinging on to the hope that Harvard will win this battle against the White House." Sial, the Harvard student from Pakistan, said foreign students like him were "made to fight this battle which no one signed up for." "It's really unfortunate that it's come down to that."
New York Times
28-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Trump's Attacks Have Helped Heal a Deeply Divided Harvard
A leading pro-Palestinian student demonstrator led chants for a crowd of hundreds gathered in front of the gates to Harvard Yard on Tuesday evening. A former Jewish leader on campus who has criticized pro-Palestinian campus activism delivered the first speech. A professor who is one of Harvard's most prominent critics then joined them to urge people to defend the university. Harvard in recent years has been the site of bitter acrimony over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, free speech and the future of American higher education. But the Trump administration's attack on Harvard has infused the campus with a sense of unity it has lacked over the last year and half, as the university prepares for commencement this week. 'School pride is probably at an all-time high,' said Abdullah Shahid Sial, a sophomore from Pakistan and one of Harvard's two undergraduate student body presidents. He said he had not seen the campus so unified. 'I hope it continues.' The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that it had barred Harvard from enrolling international students, a move that sent shock waves through higher education. The government has also frozen more than $3 billion in grants and contracts in its battle against the university. The extraordinary attack has caused many in the Harvard community to set differences aside at what they say is an existential moment for the 388-year-old university. Wherever one falls on the Middle East conflict, Mr. Sial said, 'everyone is on the side that cracking down on international students will not solve any of those issues.' The Trump administration has said it is punishing Harvard because it has not done enough to stop antisemitism and has created an environment that is hostile to conservatives. The campus has banded together because what President Trump is doing 'is completely beyond the pale,' said N. Gregory Mankiw, an influential conservative economist. Professor Mankiw, who worked in the George W. Bush administration, said he would like more viewpoint diversity on campus but added that he had always felt appreciated and treated 'extremely well' at Harvard. 'Double parking is a problem,' he said. 'But we don't start executing people who double park.' While some students and faculty members remain critical of Harvard, the rally on Tuesday seemed to capture the prevailing mood on campus. A new group, formed to oppose Trump administration demands, organized the event as a show of support for Harvard's international students. Jacob M. Miller, who in 2023 served as the student president of Harvard's Hillel chapter, a center for Jewish life on campus, frequently appeared on national television after the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel to say Harvard's administration was not doing enough to combat antisemitism. At the rally on Tuesday, he said Harvard's Jewish community rejects the Trump administration's narrative that the federal government's actions are intended to protect Jewish students. 'We will not allow our identities to be invoked to undermine institutions of higher education,' Mr. Miller said. 'And we will not allow the administration to wield our identities as a pretextual prop in the political persecution of our peers.' Nuriel Vera-DeGraff, a junior at Harvard who delivered speeches at a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus last year, introduced Mr. Miller at the Tuesday rally. Afterward, he said in an interview that despite their differences, they could 'still fight the common fight together.' Mr. Miller said that Mr. Trump's fight with Harvard had pushed 'people to expand their horizons and to create friendships outside of the immediate groups of people with whom they already agree.' Tim, an admitted student from Ukraine who asked to be identified by his first name for fear of actions by the government, said international students had been encouraged by Harvard's decision to swiftly sue the federal government. The action signaled that the university would fight for its students, he said in an interview from his home in Ukraine. The atmosphere of relative unity at Harvard stands in contrast to Columbia University, which capitulated to some demands from the Trump administration. While Harvard also tried to work with the Trump administration, it has been aggressive in rejecting some demands and has now sued the federal government twice. Last week, Claire Shipman, Columbia's acting president, received a chorus of boos during commencement. Harvard's commencement will be Thursday. On Tuesday, Harvard's president, Alan M. Garber, addressed undergraduates in the class of 2025 during a speech at the university's annual baccalaureate service. As Dr. Garber took the stage, someone in the crowd of graduating seniors cheered, 'My boy!' In his remarks, Dr. Garber urged the seniors to defend the values of education as they pursued their professional careers. 'The best way to acknowledge Harvard and what this time has meant to you is to advocate for education,' Dr. Garber said, adding, 'Everything we might achieve — morally, scientifically, technologically and even economically — is grounded in knowledge.' On Tuesday night, thousands of people attended a webinar put on by Crimson Courage, a group started by Harvard alumni, to support their alma mater and higher education. Maura Healey, who is the governor of Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard in 1992, said during the call that the university was the fourth biggest employer in the state and contributed more than $6 billion to its economy. The attacks on international students are 'undercutting our ability to attract the world's talent,' Governor Healey said, adding, 'People are going to take their talents elsewhere.' The need for faculty and administrators to unite to defend the university has 'taken priority over other divisions among us,' said Vincent Brown, a history professor. Dr. Brown had recently criticized university actions, including urging leaders to take a stronger posture against the Trump administration when it adopted a conciliatory stance. Now, he said, 'everybody is united behind President Garber and anybody else who is willing to defend the academic sector against the assault of the Trump administration.'
CBS News
24-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
International student at Harvard says Trump's actions have caused "a lot of havoc"
When the Trump administration announced its plan to ban Harvard University from enrolling international students earlier this week, it sent shockwaves of uncertainty through households around the world. On Friday, Harvard sued the White House over its efforts and a federal judge quickly put a temporary block on the measure. Students are waiting to see if that ruling sticks with a hearing scheduled for next week. Harvard says 27% of its total enrollment are international students who represent at least 147 countries. Abdullah Shahid Sial is one of them. "It has definitely caused a lot of havoc. A lot of panic," said Sial, who learned of the news on a flight to Japan. Harvard students in limbo A rising junior from Pakistan, Sial is a Harvard Student Body co-president who said his status with the school is in limbo. He also said some students started transferring from the university last semester due to the uncertainty of the feud between the White House and university. "The U.S. also benefits heavily, heavily from these international students coming in because clearly they represent the best of their respective countries," said Sial. "When they come here, they start businesses, they work in different companies, they create a lot of employment. Silicon Valley was built by the children of immigrants and that's a massive part of the U.S. economy." Students work their entire life to build the resume and credentials to get accepted into Harvard. It's notoriously one of the toughest schools to get into. Giulio Pellieno got his golden ticket with an acceptance to study economics as a freshman this fall. "It's quite unreal to be accepted to such a great university," said Pellieno who lives in Germany. "I have looked up to the U.S. for its boldness and tech ideas and innovativeness and I still do. But I think the whole situation really tests the belief in American higher education because it's really unsettling and unsure for me." Trump on Harvard University On Friday, President Trump spoke in the Oval Office for the first time on his efforts to ban international students from Harvard and a judge's temporary restriction. "Billions of dollars has been paid to Harvard. How ridiculous is that? Billions. And they have $52 billion as an endowment. They have $52 billion," Trump said. "So, Harvard is going to have to change its ways."
CNN
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
We're ‘poker chips': International Harvard students describe fear after Trump administration moves to revoke their enrollment
International Harvard students say they are experiencing 'pure panic' amid the Trump administration's move to bar foreign enrollment, as students from around the world told CNN they are coming to grips with the possibility of revoked visas, suspended research and being blocked from reentry to the United States if they leave this summer. A federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's ban on Friday, after the nation's oldest and wealthiest college filed a suit in federal court. Harvard argued revocation of its certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program was 'clear retaliation' for its refusal of the government's ideologically rooted policy demands. But thousands of international students remain in limbo, and are 'very clearly, extremely afraid' because they don't know their current their legal status, Harvard student body co-president Abdullah Shahid Sial, who is from Lahore, Pakistan, told CNN. 'They're literally like, teenagers, thousands of miles away from their hometowns having to deal with this situation, which lawyers often fear to engage in,' said Sial, who is currently traveling overseas after exams and is uncertain if he'll be able to return to campus. About 27% of Harvard's student body is international, with 6,793 international undergraduates and grad students hailing from nearly every country in the world. 'Harvard is Harvard because it has the ability to attract people – the best people – from all over the world, not just the United States,' Sial told CNN on Friday. 'The US also benefits heavily from having the best in the world come to the university and study. And then they've been dehumanized and disrespected.' Sial said the university and deans have been helpful in supporting international students at a time of uncertainty and 'pure panic,' which is happening days after final exams ended and just one week before graduation. As student body president, he says he is working to encourage the university to assist international students who want to transfer to other colleges and pushing for students' financial aid packages to transfer, as well. But the window to transfer to other universities for the fall semester is already closed at most colleges, Sial said. 'Many of us have worked our entire lives to get to a university like Harvard, and now we need to wait around and see if we might have to transfer out and face difficulties with visas,' says rising junior Karl Molden, from Austria. Molden, who is also traveling abroad and concerned he won't be allowed to return to campus, said he feels international students are being used as a 'ball in this larger fight between democracy and authoritarianism.' Jared, an 18-year-old in New Zealand, was just accepted to Harvard and had been planning to start undergraduate studies at the Ivy League school this fall. He told CNN it was a 'heart drop' moment when he learned of the Trump administration's announcement – which came in the midst of applying for his student visa and preparing to move the 9,000 miles to Boston. Harvard and Trump officials have been locked in conflict for months as the administration demands the university make changes to campus programming, policies, hiring and admissions to root out what the White House has called antisemitism and 'racist' practices. Like many other colleges and universities, Harvard drew intense criticism last year for its handling of pro-Palestinian protests and encampments following the start of the Israel-Hamas war, as well as complaints from Jewish alumni and students about antisemitism on campus. Harvard has acknowledged antisemitism on its campus, particularly during the previous academic year, and said it has begun taking concrete action to address it. An Israeli postdoctoral student studying at Harvard said she feels like Jewish students are 'being used as pawns' by the Trump administration, which has accused the university of perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is 'hostile to Jewish students' and 'employs racist diversity, equity and inclusion practices.' The Israeli student, who did not want to be named in fear of being denied reentry to the United States, said she believed the Trump administration was 'using' the university to 'have this battle with academia that is much bigger than Harvard.' She said the government was clamping down on ideas that 'don't always align with the administration, rather than (having) an actual concern for the safety of Jewish students, Israeli students.' 'So, I do feel like we're being used,' she said, adding that she thinks university leadership is taking the issue of antisemitism on campus seriously. 'I don't want to diminish anyone's experience at the university. I know people have had tough experiences, but I do feel like I have, personally, 100% trust and faith in our leadership.' Another Israeli master's student studying at Harvard, who wished to remain anonymous due to concerns about how speaking publicly might impact their studies, told CNN it is 'very important for Israelis and Jewish people to come here and still be very strong in what they believe in … And not only in Harvard, I would say in American academia and on American campuses right now, more than ever.' One graduate student from Australia, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being denied future US visas, told CNN it 'feels extraordinary that we are all being punished' for campus activism, given that researchers and PhD students often don't have the time or interest to engage. 'As a graduate student, we are just fully occupied with our research work, which I would say I spend 80 to 100 hours on each week,' said the Australian student, adding that the showdown between the Trump administration and Harvard will likely lead to researchers leaving the country. 'If things really hit the fan, (I) would probably be trying to transfer to a school in the UK.' Other graduate students said they are also feeling fear and uncertainty, with concerns for their research work, their future careers and their loved ones. 'There's the ramifications for their family, you know, spouses, their children, their enrollment, their work status, their rent, housing, everything,' said Fangzhou Jiang, 30, from China. He is a Harvard Kennedy School student going into his second year of a master's program. 'You just don't know what's going to happen.' For some international students, like those from countries at war or experiencing political turmoil, the stakes are even higher. Maria Kuznetsova, a former spokesperson for OVD-Info, a Russian independent human rights monitoring group, is currently a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She's graduating in a week and had planned to work on a Harvard-sponsored visa that had already been granted, but she fears it may be canceled now. 'I used to work in Russian human rights and in the opposition, which means I can't return to Russia,' Kuznetsova told CNN. 'And since I've been living in the US for two years now, I don't even have a European visa. So, I don't really know where I could even go geographically if things go wrong.' 'From what I see, people are still in a state of panic – everyone's waiting for the court's decision,' Kuznetsova said. 'It's not just me from Russia here – there are also many Ukrainians, a lot of political students from Venezuela, and people from Afghanistan and Palestine. I even have a classmate from North Korea. These are people who, quite literally, cannot return to their home countries,' she added. Steven Pinker, Harvard University Professor of Psychology, says "The Trump administration is following the handbook of authoritarian regimes and dictatorships" by going after universities, law firms and media organizations that potentially oppose its policies. Ivan Bogantsev, also from Russia, was planning to stay in the US after completing his program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His wife, currently in Russia and also on a Harvard-sponsored visa, is due to arrive for his graduation, but he's unsure whether she'll be allowed entry. 'No one seems able to explain whether we're at risk of deportation or not,' Bogantsev told CNN. 'I believe a brain drain from this country is absolutely guaranteed. I can't say to what extent, but the environment here is extremely unfriendly.' But he said going back to Russia is not an option he is considering. 'I was detained at rallies (in Russia), and let's just say the atmosphere was growing increasingly tense. And secondly, most of my friends are essentially labeled (in Russia) as criminals, traitors or foreign agents.' Leo Gerdén, from Sweden, who is supposed to graduate next week, told CNN that some of his friends still at Harvard 'are making new plans of transferring, especially to other institutions abroad.' 'I was looking forward to celebrating commencement next week, but now, you know, I might leave this place and it will not look the same next semester, because without these international students and its international researchers, the Harvard campus will not be the same,' Gerdén said. 'We are being used essentially as poker chips in a battle between the White House and Harvard, and it feels honestly very dehumanizing.' CNN's Katelyn Polantz, Helen Regan, Todd Symons and Isa Soares contributed to this report.
