Trump administration takes aim at Harvard's international students and tax-exempt status

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's medication has escalated its ongoing conflict with Harvard, threatening to revoke the university's quality to big planetary students arsenic the president called for withdrawing Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

The Department of Homeland Security ordered Harvard precocious Tuesday to crook implicit “detailed records" of its overseas pupil visa holders’ "illegal and convulsive activities” by April 30. International students marque up 27% of the campus.

The section besides said it was canceling 2 grants to the schoolhouse totaling $2.7 million.

The moves deepen the crackdown connected Harvard, which connected Monday became the archetypal assemblage to openly defy the administration’s demands related to activism connected campus, antisemitism and diversity. The national authorities has already frozen much than $2 cardinal successful grants and contracts to the Ivy League institution.

Trump suggested Tuesday connected societal media that Harvard should suffer its tax-exempt presumption “if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and violent inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’”

The clasp connected federal wealth for research astatine Harvard marked the seventh clip the medication has taken specified a measurement astatine 1 of the nation’s astir elite colleges. The authorities is attempting to unit compliance with Trump’s governmental docket astatine schools helium accuses of pushing “woke” policies and allowing antisemitism to fester.

In a missive to Harvard connected Friday, Trump’s medication called for wide authorities and enactment reforms astatine the university, positive changes to its admissions policies. It besides demanded that the assemblage audit views of diverseness connected field and halt recognizing immoderate pupil clubs.

Harvard President Alan Garber said Monday that the assemblage would not crook to the government’s demands. Later that day, the White House announced the frost of much than $2.2 cardinal successful multi-year grants and $60 cardinal successful contracts.

Conservative strategist Christopher Rufo said the authorities should respond to Harvard’s defiance by cutting each national wealth and stripping nonprofit presumption astatine Harvard and different Ivies that defy national orders. Rufo urged the authorities to usage the aforesaid tools it utilized during the Civil Rights Movement to unit desegregation.

“Trump needs to travel done connected his menace to defund 1 of the Ivy League universities,” Rufo said connected societal media Tuesday. “Cut the backing and ticker the assemblage implode.”

Rufo said Harvard has discriminated against achromatic and Asian American students, citing events specified arsenic graduation celebrations circumstantial to definite taste groups, on with a 2021 theatre show exclusively “for Black-identifying assemblage members.”

For the Trump administration, Harvard presents the archetypal large hurdle successful its effort to force alteration astatine universities that Republicans accidental person go hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.

Trump’s run started astatine Columbia University, which initially agreed to respective demands from the Trump medication but took a much emboldened code aft Harvard’s defiance. Columbia's acting president, Claire Shipman, said successful a field connection Monday that immoderate of the demands “are not taxable to negotiation” and that she work of Harvard’s rejection with “great interest.”

Trump has targeted schools accused of tolerating antisemitism amid a question of pro-Palestinian protests connected U.S. campuses. Some of the government’s demands interaction straight connected that activism, calling connected Harvard to enforce tougher subject connected protesters and to surface planetary students for those who are “hostile to the American values.”

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