Latest news with #publicadministration
The Independent
4 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Chinese student struck a chord emphasizing humanity during Harvard commencement speech
A day after her emotional speech at Harvard University's commencement, Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang kept running into classmates who praised her message that people should see everyone's common humanity rather than demonize others for their differences. 'We're starting to believe those who think differently, vote differently or pray differently — whether they're across the ocean or sitting right next to us — are not just wrong. We mistakenly see them as evil. But it doesn't have to be this way,' she said in her address, which drew wide applause. 'The message itself, if I have to put it into one sentence, will be humanity rises and falls as one,' Jiang told The Associated Press on Friday. 'We are living in a very difficult time. There's a lot of divisions in terms of ideas, ethnicities, identities. This is a time where we can use a little bit more moral imagination and imagine ourselves being connected with one another.' The 25-year-old Jiang's speech never directly mentioned the Trump administration nor its multi-pronged attack on the nation's oldest and richest university. But she said the turmoil beyond their campus and its impact on her classmates was on her mind as she delivered her speech. 'Students can be very emotionally charged because they care deeply about a lot of issues,' said Jiang, who comes from China and graduated with a masters degree in public administration in international development. 'When you are emotionally charged and activated, it's very easy to demonize another person." She said the relentless attacks from the Trump administration on the school's funding and threats to detain and deport people studying in the U.S. on student visas have left her unsettled, adding huge uncertainty to her future plans. 'In terms of the plan going forward, I would say everything is up in the air at this point,' Jiang said, who had hoped to remain in the United States for a few years but now is open to working in international development overseas. 'At this point, it's difficult to say what will happen." This week, the Trump administration asked federal agencies to cancel about $100 million in contracts with the university. The government already canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants, moved to cut off Harvard's enrollment of international students and threatened its tax-exempt status. Then it widened the pressure campaign, suspending visa applications worldwide and threatening to deny U.S. visas to thousands of Chinese students nationwide. These actions resonate with Jiang and her classmates — about 30% of Harvard's students are international, and China has among the highest numbers. 'The anxiety is real,' said Jiang, who knows two international students from China who are weighing whether to travel for work in Kenya and Rwanda. 'Because of the uncertainty of their visas, they are facing a very tricky situation,' she said. 'They can either go abroad, go to Kenya and Rwanda to do their internship and work on poverty alleviation and public health but risking not being able to make it back to campus safely. Or they can stay on campus and do their internships remote." 'It's pretty heartbreaking," she continued'They wanted to help humanity and, to see them entangled in politics they didn't choose, is hard." Jiang, who went to high school in the United Kingdom and earned her undergraduate degree at Duke University, said there should be more, not fewer, academic exchanges between China and the United States. 'Humanity is facing a lot of crisis,' she said. 'There are conflicts. There is climate. There are a lot things that not only one country can tackle. China and the U.S. are the two most powerful economies or countries in the world. They have to work with each other to be able to combat the problems or the issues that affect every single human being.' Jiang also defended the importance of international students at Harvard, recalling how 60% of the students stood up at the Kennedy School of Government commencement when the dean, Jeremy Weinstein, asked how many came from outside the United States. Then he asked if they had learned something from their international classmates, and most everyone stood. 'A lot of us clapped and cheered. A lot of us were in tears,' she said, as Weinstein told them to 'look around, this is your school.' Without international students, it would be a challenge for Harvard to achieve its mission, Jiang said. Campus culture depends on its globally diverse student body, studying and hanging out together. 'Harvard wants its students to go and change the world and you can't change the world without understanding the world,' she said. 'You can't understand the world without truly having a personal connection with people from all sorts of countries."
Washington Post
5 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Harvard celebrates graduation in the shadow of its fight with Trump
Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang did not mention President Donald Trump on Thursday at Harvard University's commencement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but her 6½-minute speech before thousands of other graduates was a full-throated rebuttal to his administration's ban on the school's ability to enroll international students like her. Jiang delivered 'Guard Our Humanity,' a treatise on the importance of Harvard teaching students from around the world. She'd joined a class of 77 students from 34 countries for the Harvard Kennedy School's two-year master's program in public administration in international development.
Free Malaysia Today
23-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
These world leaders went to Harvard before Trump's foreign student ban
Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong received a master's in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2004. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : The Trump administration's move to block Harvard University from enrolling international students doesn't just put more financial pressure on the school but also threatens a cradle for global political leaders. The US department of homeland security today revoked Harvard's student and exchange visitor programme certification, citing an 'unsafe campus environment'. It means foreign students can no longer attend the university, while existing international students must transfer or lose their legal status. The decision has thrust thousands of students into limbo, including those who may have planned to follow a well-trodden path to public office upon graduation. The school's potential loss may be another's gain: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology today said it would unconditionally accept Harvard students so they can study 'without disruption', seizing the opportunity to grab talent. Harvard has produced eight US leaders, most recently former president Barack Obama, the most among universities. Outside the US, Harvard has educated countless international students who went on to become political elites. From Canada to Singapore, here's a list of some of the current world leaders who attended the Ivy League school. Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, fresh off an election victory in late April, is well known as a figure in international finance, and previously headed both the Bank of Canada through the 2008 financial crisis and the Bank of England through Brexit. He earned a bachelor of economics from Harvard University in 1988, before he went to Oxford University for a master of economics in 1993 and a PhD in economics in 1995. Lawrence Wong Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who won his mandate to lead the city-state with the ruling People's Action Party earlier this month, received a master's in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2004. He also earned bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan, respectively. Lai Ching-te, president of Taiwan A former kidney doctor, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te entered politics after military tensions flared with Beijing in the mid-1990s. He obtained a master of public health degree from Harvard University in 2003 and is one of the few physicians in the self-ruled island with an expertise in rehabilitation, clinical care and public health. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister of Greece Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who took office in 2019, obtained his bachelor's degree in social studies from Harvard University, and earned an MA in international relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Daniel Noboa, president of Ecuador Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, a scion of wealthy banana exporters who won the country's election last month, studied at a series of US universities and received his master's in public administration in 2020 from Harvard Kennedy School. Maia Sandu, president of Moldova Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who pulled out a decisive election victory in the former Soviet republic last year, obtained a master's degree in public policy after completing her studies at the Kennedy School of Public Administration at Harvard University in 2010. Duma Boko, president of Botswana Botswana's President Duma Boko is a Harvard-educated human-rights lawyer. He studied law at the University of Botswana prior to receiving his master of laws at Harvard Law School in 1995. Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, prime minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai took office as the prime minister of Mongolia in 2021 after his predecessor Khurelsukh Ukhnaa resigned over the government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. He received a master's degree in public administration in 2015 from Harvard Kennedy School.
