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3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Harvard affinity group graduations held off campus amid ‘capitulation' to Trump
As graduating Harvard University students celebrated completing their degrees this week, some remained irked at the school for its decision a month ago to withdraw support for special ceremonies celebrating members of various identity groups. Under pressure from the Trump administration, Harvard said it would no longer fund, staff or provide space for affinity group graduation ceremonies, such as events honoring graduating students who are Black, veterans, Muslim or members of other groups. The school said at the same time that it would rename its Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging to the Office of Community and Campus Life. Some students saw the two moves as the school capitulating to the Trump administration, even as it battled the government tooth and nail on other matters. At the time, Harvard senior Victor Flores told MassLive he was more excited to celebrate his upcoming graduation at a ceremony for other Latin American students than to attend the main graduation, which was held Thursday. 'There's nothing like celebrating in community, especially with peers of similar backgrounds and similar experiences,' Flores said. Read more: 'Willing to capitulate': Cracks emerge in Harvard's resistance to Trump over DEI Without Harvard's support, space or funding for identity group graduation ceremonies, he and other students took the challenge of planning the events on themselves. Eight affinity groups held graduation ceremonies over the past week, and at almost every one, speakers criticized the university for backing away from the events, according to the Harvard Crimson, the school's student newspaper. At the Harvard Black Graduation, attended by more than 500 people at an off-campus hotel in Cambridge, New York Times reporter Nikole S. Hannah-Jones told graduates they 'deserved better than the capitulation of those in power here that would force you, with very little notice, to hold this graduation off campus and with no university support,' according to the Crimson. Other unofficial affinity group ceremonies honored Latino, first-generation, low-income, LGBTQ+, Muslim, veteran, disabled, and Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American graduates, the student paper reported. Ahead of Harvard's main commencement ceremonies on Thursday, Gabriel Rodriguez said his brother, a first-generation college student in a Mexican-American family, was among those students whose affinity group celebrations lost university support. 'He and his friends had to rally, and the rest of the Latino students had to rally, to get a Latino graduation set up,' Rodriguez said. 'They were able to raise $15,000, but the fact that it had to happen on their own and they didn't have the university's support really makes a difference.' Rodriguez said the last few months have been stressful — for his brother on a campus under pressure from the federal government, and for the family watching it from afar. Harvard has spent weeks as the focal point of President Donald Trump's assault on higher education as his administration applied increasing pressure to enact massive change to Harvard's admissions, hiring, management and curriculum. Read more: Here's everything Trump has stripped from Harvard so far — and what is threatened 'We were worried, because whenever there's such a spotlight on a university, you just never know what's going to happen,' Rodriguez said. 'And so there were concerns that we just want to make sure that he was safe and that he was in a good place.' At an affinity group ceremony for first-generation and low-income students this week, Anthony Jack, author of 'The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students,' said the event had been 'marred by broken promises' by Harvard, according to the Crimson. 'They tried to take our commencements away,' Jack said. 'But nothing — no executive order, no coerced concession — can take away all that went into making this day possible.' Harvard commencement speaker says it's fitting to 'hear from an immigrant like me' Many foreign students already fleeing Harvard University due to Trump order Protesters pack outside Harvard commencement as families focus on their graduates Trump admin starts 30-day countdown on Harvard foreign students Shadow of Trump administration hangs over Harvard University commencement Read the original article on MassLive.
The Print
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Indian students at Harvard protest Pakistani delegates' visit post Pahalgam, ask Rubio to revoke visas
The letter, signed by Harvard Kennedy School students Surabhi Tomar and Abhishek Chaudhari on behalf of concerned students, alleged that the attack—carried out by militants linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—targeted Hindu civilians based on their faith. The students described it as a 'faith-based massacre' as survivors reported being interrogated about their religion before the killings. In a letter addressed to Harvard President Dr Alan Garber, Provost John F. Manning, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein, and the Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Indian students urged the academic institution to publicly condemn the 22 April attack and reconsider hosting Pakistani officials at the Pakistan Conference 2025. New Delhi: The aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack has now spilled over to other parts of the world. Indian students at Harvard University in the United States are protesting the upcoming visit of Pakistani delegates to the campus, accusing Pakistan's government of supporting religiously motivated terrorism against Hindus in India. 'These acts of violence were not indiscriminate—they were calculated attacks based solely on religious identity,' the letter read. 'Harvard must ensure its campus does not become a platform for whitewashing state-enabled religious terrorism.' The Indian students expressed particular concern that Pakistani delegates, including the country's finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, are slated to speak at the conference, despite Pakistan's Senate's new resolution reaffirming its support for Kashmir's so-called 'freedom struggle', which they argued is often used to justify violence against Indian civilians. 'Welcoming representatives of a government that not only denies accountability for, but also ideologically supports such religion-based terrorism, risks Harvard being complicit in legitimising those who enable or justify these crimes,' the letter added. The concerned students further asked Garber to issue a public statement condemning the Pahalgam attack, and affirming the university's support for victims of religion-based violence, reconsider the participation of Pakistani officials at the upcoming Pakistan Conference 2025 and provide emotional and institutional support to affected students through the Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. In a parallel move, the students also wrote to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the Trump administration to revoke the visas of Pakistani officials travelling for the event. They called on the US government to 'stand with victims and uphold America's moral clarity in the face of terrorism'. 'Welcoming representatives of a government that enables or justifies terrorism risks Harvard being complicit,' the joint letter to Rubio read. 'The United States must not host representatives of a state that protects and promotes organisations targeting civilians based on faith.' (Edited by Mannat Chugh) Also Read: In touch with both India & Pakistan, US calls for 'responsible' solution after Pahalgam attack
