David Harvard vs. Goliath Trump

• The conflict between Harvard University and the Trump 2.0 administration has escalated since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) prohibited Harvard from enrolling international students.

• Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, calling the action a “blatant violation” of constitutional rights.

• Trump has long attacked elite universities, claiming they promote ideologies incompatible with American principles.

• The Trump administration’s demands for Harvard to restrict faculty and student influence, report conduct violations by international students, and designate an outside party to ensure diversity in academic departments marked the beginning of the current conflict.

• Harvard, with a $52 billion endowment, refused to “fold” like Columbia and filed a lawsuit when the administration froze $2.26 billion in its multiyear grants.

• The administration vowed to deprive Harvard of its tax-exempt status, which would impact the school’s capacity to generate money.

• Harvard broadened its lawsuit to include additional budget cuts.

• The DHS claimed that Harvard’s leadership created an unsafe environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and assault individuals.

• The Trump administration has created a huge noise in a hurry, transforming Harvard University into a valiant ‘David’ opposing the government’s ‘Goliath’.

• Harvard accuses the Trump administration of using international students as pawns in a “campaign of retribution… without process or cause.”

• The U.S. government has control over who is allowed to enter the country, and to accept international students, American educational institutions are required to retain a certification through the DHS’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

• The battle against the Trump administration could help redraw the boundaries for ‘academic freedom’ and serve as a roadmap to rethink the relationship between the government and universities in other parts of the world.