A pedestrian wearin’ a Harvard University sweatshirt strutted around the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Sophie Park | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe Trump administration went ahead and blocked Harvard University on Thursday from takin’ in future international students and keepin’ the ones that were already enrolled in the school. The Department of Homeland Security was the one who made the call, sayin’ they had to revoke Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification because the school’s leadership “has created an unsafe campus environment by lettin’ anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators run wild and harassin’ and physically assaultin’ individuals, especially Jewish students, and causin’ chaos in what used to be a respectable learnin’ environment.”
“Many of these troublemakers are foreign students,” DHS mentioned. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had warned Harvard back in April that they would lose their SEVP certification if they didn’t give up information about the alleged “criminality and misconduct of foreign students on campus.” But Harvard was stubborn and didn’t wanna share the info, so DHS had no choice but to pull the plug. Noem, in a statement on Thursday, made it clear that this was a message to all universities and academic institutions out there. Harvard, of course, didn’t take it lyin’ down and called Noem’s move “unlawful.”
“We are all in for keepin’ our international students and scholars at Harvard, comin’ from over 140 countries and bringin’ so much to the University and the nation,” Harvard defended in a statement. They were scramblin’ to help out their community and were worried about the harm this whole mess would bring. DHS wasn’t playin’ around either; they not only stopped future international students from enrollin’ but also said that existin’ foreign students had to either transfer or face losin’ their legal status. As if things weren’t already messy, a federal judge in Oakland, California, stepped in and put a stop to President Trump and Noem tryin’ to mess with the legal status of international students while a lawsuit was still goin’ on.
Noem came out swingin’, sayin’, “This administration had to call out Harvard for fosterin’ violence, antisemitism, and cozyin’ up to the Chinese Communist Party on their turf.” She made it clear that it was a privilege for universities to take in foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments. Harvard was given plenty of chances to do the right thing, but they chose to resist. And now, they were payin’ the price by losin’ their SEVP certification. This wasn’t the first time the Trump administration had beef with Harvard; back in April, they froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to the school after Harvard refused to axe their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and screen international students for any questionable beliefs or ideas.
So yeah, things were gettin’ pretty wild at Harvard, with international students caught in the middle of a political showdown. The fate of these students hangin’ in the balance as the drama unfolded. Will Harvard be able to bounce back from this mess? Only time will tell.
