Latest news with #AlanM.Garber
New York Times
29-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Gives Clemency to 25 People, Including His Political Allies
Part of Harvard University's campus seen in the distance in Cambridge, Mass. In public statements and social media posts, President Trump has threatened Harvard University financially, calling it a 'threat to democracy' and referring to its professors as 'birdbrains.' Now, Harvard lawyers are trying to use the president's words against him in their legal fight against his administration. On Thursday, Harvard and Trump administration attorneys will make their first in-person arguments in a Boston federal courtroom, in a case involving the administration's attempt to ban the university from enrolling international students. The Trump administration has argued that Harvard has given up the right to host international students on campus, citing what it says are civil rights violations, including allowing antisemitic behavior. The university's president, Alan M. Garber, has acknowledged some problems with antisemitism but points to major steps he has taken to address it. In the courtroom, Harvard's strategy will use the president's statements as evidence that the government is on a political crusade against the school. In briefs filed in the case, lawyers have argued Trump administration officials have unjustly singled out the university for punishment, violating its First Amendment rights. It has included the president's aggressive comments as exhibits in its case. David A. Super, a professor at Georgetown Law, says Harvard's strategy — pointing to the president's posts on his social media network, Truth Social — could work. 'The Truth Social posts prove a deep hostility to Harvard, and Harvard believes they also suggest that hostility is based on Harvard's exercise of its First Amendment activity,' Mr. Super said. 'So these quotes help Harvard prove its particular claims.' Image A rally in support of international students on Tuesday at Harvard University. Credit... Lucy Lu for The New York Times At stake is a 70-year-old Harvard tradition of admitting top students from around the globe. Its notable international alumni include Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former president of Liberia; and Masako Owada, the empress of Japan. A visa ban would affect 7,000 students at Harvard. That includes 5,000 current students and another 2,000 in a program that allows students to stay and work for up to three years after they graduate. The ban also affects incoming students who had expected to arrive this summer and fall. Kirsten Weld, a Harvard professor who heads the school's chapter of the American Association of University Professors, called such a ban 'an extinction-level event.' It could also have implications beyond Harvard — further deterring international interest in studying in the United States, already ebbing following efforts by the administration this year aimed at deporting international students. Last week, a day after the administration imposed the ban, it was temporarily blocked by Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who will preside over Thursday's hearing. Lawyers for Harvard are asking Judge Burroughs to extend that order by issuing a preliminary injunction while the case moves through the court system. Justice Department lawyers have not submitted any written arguments in the case. But in revoking Harvard's right to host international students last week, Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said the school had fostered violence and antisemitism and accused it of 'coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.' She also pointed to Harvard's ideology and what she called its propaganda, which she described as 'anti-American.' Jewish students had complained that Harvard had failed to combat antisemitic behavior on campus, including during pro-Palestinian protests that began in 2023. In response, Harvard commissioned an internal task force report, settled legal cases with Jewish students and created new programs to address bias. The basis for Ms. Noem's claims involving collaboration with Chinese Communists were not entirely clear. The ban followed an extended back and forth between Harvard and the federal government. In April, the Trump administration sent a request for information about the school's international students, including the names of students who had been disciplined. Later, it expanded those demands, asking for footage of international students involved in demonstrations. Harvard has said that it made efforts to provide some of the information, though it argued the requests were well outside the normal documentation required about international students. Trump administration officials were unsatisfied, however, and Ms. Noem blamed the university's failure to comply with reporting requirements when she announced the ban. Revoking a university's right to host international students, which is done through a federal system known as the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, is an extraordinary measure. The government has historically done so in cases involving fraud — such as diploma mills that host would-be immigrants under the guise of providing them an education. In court papers, lawyers for Harvard said the administration bypassed detailed procedures leading to a revocation that are clearly laid out in federal regulations. They also argue that the order last week was part of a 'broader effort to retaliate against Harvard for its refusal to surrender its academic independence.' Even before he was elected to a second term, Mr. Trump had criticized Harvard and other top universities. In a video posted during the campaign, he invoked Harvard while announcing a plan to tax university endowments and use the money to create a free online university called the American Academy. Details of that proposal have not materialized. Ahead of Thursday's hearing, lawyers for Harvard specifically cited four of the president's posts on Truth Social, dated from April 15 to May 2, as evidence that his decision to revoke Harvard's right to host international students was retaliation for the university's failure to acquiesce to the administration's earlier demands. They include a threat that Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status, a claim that Harvard's professors were 'Radical left, idiots and birdbrains,' and an assertion that Harvard was a 'Far Left Institution.' In a statement to reporters on Wednesday, Mr. Trump repeated a demand that Harvard show the administration its list of international students — information the government, which issues visas, keeps in its own database. He also said that the Ivy League should cap the international students it admits to 15 percent, introducing a new spin into the administration's position. Currently, Harvard's student body is about 27 percent international. 'Harvard has got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect and all they're doing is getting in deeper and deeper,' Trump told reporters gathered at the White House. Ms. Noem's announcement was the most recent action in a series of administration assaults on Harvard that began this year and came to a head last month, when Harvard refused to go along with a series of administration demands, including a ban on admitting students 'hostile to the American values,' an audit of the political ideology of the student body and faculty to determine 'viewpoint diversity,' and quarterly status updates from the school. Columbia University had acceded to a list of demands when threatened by the Trump administration. When Harvard refused, government officials said they would freeze $2.2 billion in federal research contracts and grants with the university. Harvard filed the first of its two lawsuits, also pending before Judge Burroughs, challenging those funding cuts. The government has since announced additional funding cuts. It is not the first time a Trump administration target is using the president's comments to build a case against his government. In May, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell deemed unconstitutional an executive order stripping privileges, including federal building access and security clearance, from the law firm Perkins Coie. In her order siding with the law firm, Judge Howell repeatedly referenced Mr. Trump's statements on Truth Social as evidence that the firm, known for its work for Democratic candidates in voting rights cases, had been a victim of the president's 'ire.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump vs. Harvard: A timeline of the president's war with the country's oldest university
Harvard University sued the Trump administration on Friday after having its ability to host foreign students revoked. The move marked the latest escalation in the ongoing back-and-forth between the president and one of the nation's most prestigious universities. 'We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,' Alan M. Garber, Harvard's president, wrote in a letter released to the public on Friday morning. 'It imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.' The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it was taking away Harvard's certification as part of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which would block the school from admitting any new international students and force all current foreign students at Harvard to transfer or risk losing their ability to legally remain in the United States. 'This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,' DHS Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media, citing heavily disputed accusations about how Harvard has handled controversial issues on its campus — particularly protests against Israel's military campaign in Gaza. A federal judge temporarily blocked the order from taking effect on Friday morning and scheduled hearings to consider its legality for later this month. President Trump has mounted a sweeping campaign to impose his ideological worldview on some of the country's most prominent universities, revoking hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from schools like Columbia, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. But no college has come under attack in the way that Harvard has. Over the course of the past few months, America's oldest university has lost billions in federal grant money, faced demands that it allow the government to dramatically overhaul its operations, been targeted by a cavalcade of investigations and had its tax-exempt status threatened — all before its ability to welcome international students was put at risk. Here's a timeline of the most aggressive actions the Trump administration has taken against Harvard and how the school has responded. March 31: The administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announces it will conduct a 'comprehensive review' of nearly $9 billion in contracts and grants that Harvard is slated to receive from the federal government over the school's alleged 'failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination.' April 11: The administration sends Harvard a letter containing a wide-ranging slate of demands, including calling for the school to reform its admissions and hiring policies, end its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and grant the government extensive new authority over university operations and education. April 14: Harvard announces that it is refusing to comply with those demands, insisting that it would not 'surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.' The administration responds by revoking $2.2 billion in federal research grants. April 16: DHS launches an investigation into Harvard's international student enrollment, threatens to revoke its ability to host them and demands that the university share comprehensive internal information about each foreign student with the administration. April 17: The Department of Education announces an investigation into donations Harvard has received from foreign sources, accusing the university of failing to accurately disclose the money it gets from overseas. April 19: The Department of Health and Human Services announces a comprehensive civil rights investigation into all activities on Harvard's campus since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in order to determine whether the school is violating federal antidiscrimination laws. April 20: The administration reportedly moves to revoke an additional $1 billion in health research funding for Harvard and its research partners. April 21: Harvard sues to block the funding freeze. The lawsuit condemns the 'broad attack' on the university and argues that the administration broke the law by violating the school's 'academic independence.' April 25: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announces an investigation into Harvard's hiring practices, accusing the school of discriminating against 'white, Asian, male, or straight employees, applicants, and training program participants.' April 28: The Education Department and HHS announce a joint investigation into allegations of 'race-based discrimination' in the operations of the Harvard Law Review. May 2: Trump says that he is revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status. It's unclear whether this will actually happen, however, because federal law explicitly bars presidents from directing the Internal Revenue Service to review or change any taxpayer's or institution's tax status. May 5: The Education Department declares that Harvard is disqualified from receiving any federal grant funding in the future. May 12: Harvard releases a letter in which it acknowledges 'common ground' it shares with the administration and expresses hope that its 'partnership' with the government can be restored. That same day, the Justice Department launches an investigation into whether Harvard's admissions practices violate antidiscrimination laws. May 13: The administration's joint task force revokes an additional $450 million in grant funding over claims that Harvard has 'repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus.' May 19: Another $60 million in medical research grant funding is canceled by HHS. May 22: DHS announces that Harvard can no longer host international students. May 23: Harvard sues to block the order. A federal judge temporarily rules in Harvard's favor, preventing the order from going into effect for at least two weeks to allow a more thorough legal challenge to get underway.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump vs. Harvard: A timeline of the president's war with the country's oldest university
Harvard University sued the Trump administration on Friday after having its ability to host foreign students revoked. The move marked the latest escalation in the ongoing back-and-forth between the president and one of the nation's most prestigious universities. 'We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,' Alan M. Garber, Harvard's president, wrote in a letter released to the public on Friday morning. 'It imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.' The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that it was taking away Harvard's certification as part of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which would block the school from admitting any new international students and force all current foreign students at Harvard to transfer or risk losing their ability to legally remain in the United States. 'This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,' DHS Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media, citing heavily disputed accusations about how Harvard has handled controversial issues on its campus — particularly protests against Israel's military campaign in Gaza. A federal judge temporarily blocked the order from taking effect on Friday morning and scheduled hearings to consider its legality for later this month. President Trump has mounted a sweeping campaign to impose his ideological worldview on some of the country's most prominent universities, revoking hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from schools like Columbia, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. But no college has come under attack in the way that Harvard has. Over the course of the past few months, America's oldest university has lost billions in federal grant money, faced demands that it allow the government to dramatically overhaul its operations, been targeted by a cavalcade of investigations and had its tax-exempt status threatened — all before its ability to welcome international students was put at risk. Here's a timeline of the most aggressive actions the Trump administration has taken against Harvard and how the school has responded. March 31: The administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announces it will conduct a 'comprehensive review' of nearly $9 billion in contracts and grants that Harvard is slated to receive from the federal government over the school's alleged 'failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination.' April 11: The administration sends Harvard a letter containing a wide-ranging slate of demands, including calling for the school to reform its admissions and hiring policies, end its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and grant the government extensive new authority over university operations and education. April 14: Harvard announces that it is refusing to comply with those demands, insisting that it would not 'surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.' The administration responds by revoking $2.2 billion in federal research grants. April 16: DHS launches an investigation into Harvard's international student enrollment, threatens to revoke its ability to host them and demands that the university share comprehensive internal information about each foreign student with the administration. April 17: The Department of Education announces an investigation into donations Harvard has received from foreign sources, accusing the university of failing to accurately disclose the money it gets from overseas. April 19: The Department of Health and Human Services announces a comprehensive civil rights investigation into all activities on Harvard's campus since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in order to determine whether the school is violating federal antidiscrimination laws. April 20: The administration reportedly moves to revoke an additional $1 billion in health research funding for Harvard and its research partners. April 21: Harvard sues to block the funding freeze. The lawsuit condemns the 'broad attack' on the university and argues that the administration broke the law by violating the school's 'academic independence.' April 25: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announces an investigation into Harvard's hiring practices, accusing the school of discriminating against 'white, Asian, male, or straight employees, applicants, and training program participants.' April 28: The Education Department and HHS announce a joint investigation into allegations of 'race-based discrimination' in the operations of the Harvard Law Review. May 2: Trump says that he is revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status. It's unclear whether this will actually happen, however, because federal law explicitly bars presidents from directing the Internal Revenue Service to review or change any taxpayer's or institution's tax status. May 5: The Education Department declares that Harvard is disqualified from receiving any federal grant funding in the future. May 12: Harvard releases a letter in which it acknowledges 'common ground' it shares with the administration and expresses hope that its 'partnership' with the government can be restored. That same day, the Justice Department launches an investigation into whether Harvard's admissions practices violate antidiscrimination laws. May 13: The administration's joint task force revokes an additional $450 million in grant funding over claims that Harvard has 'repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus.' May 19: Another $60 million in medical research grant funding is canceled by HHS. May 22: DHS announces that Harvard can no longer host international students. May 23: Harvard sues to block the order. A federal judge temporarily rules in Harvard's favor, preventing the order from going into effect for at least two weeks to allow a more thorough legal challenge to get underway.
Miami Herald
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Harvard Sues Trump Administration Over Move to Bar International Students
EDITORS NOTE: EDS: SUBS to expand and revise throughout; UPDATES list of related stories.); (ART ADV: With photo.); (With: CHINA-HARVARD, COLUMBIA-ANTISEMITISM, TRUMP-FOES-TAXES Harvard University sued the Trump administration Friday, less than 24 hours after the Department of Homeland Security said it would block international students from attending the nation's oldest university and one of its most prestigious. The administration action, and Harvard's response, signified a dramatic escalation of the battle between the administration and Harvard. And the university's forceful and almost immediate response served as evidence that stopping the flow of international students to Harvard, which draws some of the world's top scholars, would destabilize Harvard's very existence. In a letter to the Harvard community delivered Friday morning, Dr. Alan M. Garber, Harvard's president, wrote, "We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action," adding that it "imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams." The lawsuit, which accused the Trump administration of a "campaign of retribution" against the university, followed an announcement Thursday that Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification had been revoked, halting the university's ability to enroll international students. The university indicated that it would also be filing a request for a temporary restraining order asking a judge to immediately block implementation of the administration action. It was the second time in a matter of weeks the university had sued the federal government. In the new lawsuit, the university accused the Trump administration of exerting "clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to control Harvard's governance, curriculum and the 'ideology' of its faculty and students." "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 said. "Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard." The administration said Harvard had not complied with a list of demands sent on April 16 that contained records of protest activity dating back five years, including videotapes of misconduct and records of disciplinary actions involving international students. Harvard's lawsuit also said the university had been working to comply with the April 16 request, along with a letter attacking the university for failure to condemn antisemitism. Despite the "unprecedented nature and scope" of the demands, calling for information on each student visa holder, about 7,000 students across Harvard's 13 schools, within 10 business days, Harvard had submitted the required information on April 30, the lawsuit said, and also complied with a follow-up request. "Yet on May 22, DHS deemed Harvard's response 'insufficient,' without explaining why or citing any regulation with which Harvard failed to comply," the lawsuit said. It references President Donald Trump's posts on Truth Social, his social media site, as evidence of his vendetta against Harvard. The Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not respond immediately to requests for comment. The Trump administration has explained its attacks on Harvard and other top private universities as an effort to combat antisemitism and confront liberal biases on campus. During his campaign, Trump invoked the term "Marxist maniacs" to refer to the Ivy League. After he was inaugurated, Trump's administration has sought to use nearly every lever the federal government has at its disposal to force schools, Harvard especially, to bend to its will. There are now at least eight investigations into Harvard spanning at least six federal agencies. Separately, the Trump administration had sought to use the federal government's international student system as a way to remove foreign nationals from the country. Immigration officials targeted a handful of pro-Palestinian student activists, but also ended the legal status of hundreds of students, creating a general anxiety among international students at colleges and universities nationwide. (Most of those students have had their status restored, but a few high-profile cases are being argued in the courts.) At Harvard, a conflict had been building for weeks, as the Trump administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism criticized the university for anti-Israel bias. On April 11, the task force sent a letter demanding that Harvard comply with a list of demands that ranged from hiring an outside monitor to police the ideology of professors and students to barring international students "hostile to American values." Garber responded on April 15 with Harvard's first lawsuit, in which arguments are set for July. And despite statements from both sides indicating a willingness to compromise, the attacks on Harvard have continued, emanating from a variety of federal agencies, with the administration freezing nearly $3 billion in contracts and research funding. At the same time, a proposal making its way through Congress that would increase taxes on university endowments could cost Harvard an estimated $850 million a year. The wider academic community was shocked at Thursday's move by the Trump Administration. In a statement, Sally Kornbluth, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, called it a "grave moment." "I write to you in profound disbelief," she wrote in a community email late Thursday. "The action the federal government took today to bar Harvard from having international students is devastating for American excellence, openness, and ingenuity." Harvard enrolls about 6,800 international students, or about 27% of its student body, and the administration edict could ultimately affect both existing students, who would need to find other schools to attend, and newly admitted Harvard students headed for the United States in the fall. The administration's announcement Thursday potentially upends students' lives, and would also be a major financial blow to Harvard. With many of Harvard's international students enrolled in high-cost graduate programs, the tuition generated by foreign students likely generates several hundred million dollars a year for the university. In an interview Thursday, a Harvard student from Ukraine, who asked not to be identified, said she feared losing her visa not only because it will disrupt her education but because returning home, amid the war with Russia, is not an option. She is considering going to live with relatives elsewhere in Europe. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Devastating effect': Harvard sues the Trump administration over ban on enrolling foreign students
Harvard University is challenging the Trump administration's decision to bar the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students, calling it unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House's political demands. Thousands of international students at Harvard in limbo after action from Trump administration In a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an 'immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.' '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,' Harvard said in its suit. The school said it plans to file for a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move. In a statement, Harvard President Alan M. Garber said, 'We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action. It imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.' Harvard enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most are graduate students and they come from more than 100 countries. The department announced the action Thursday, accusing Harvard of creating an unsafe campus environment by allowing 'anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators' to assault Jewish students on campus. It also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, contending the school had hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024. Harvard President Alan Garber earlier this month said the university has made changes to its governance over the past year and a half, including a broad strategy to combat antisemitism, He said Harvard would not budge on its 'its core, legally-protected principles' over fears of retaliation. Harvard has said it will respond at a later time to allegations first raised by House Republicans about coordination with the Chinese Communist Party. The threat to Harvard's international enrollment stems from an April 16 request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation. Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of foreign students participating in protests or dangerous activity on campus. The suit is separate from the university's earlier one challenging more than $2 billion in federal cuts imposed by the Republican administration. Read the full complaint: Harvard v Trump 5-23-25 by Boston 25 Desk on Scribd Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
