Key points
- Harvard has produced 162 Nobel prize winners
- HR advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns
- Trump has threatened universities with funding cuts over pro-Palestinian protests
ISLAMABAD: The Trump administration has said that it would stop Harvard University from enrolling foreign students if it does not agree to government demands that would put it under outside political supervision.
The AFP reported that US President Donald Trump is furious at the storied university — which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners — for rejecting his request to submit to oversight on admissions, hiring and political slant.
“And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students,” AFP cited a statement from the Department of Homeland Security as saying.
Reuters reported that the US Department of Homeland Security stated Harvard University will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government’s latest escalation against the educational institution.
Funding cuts
A Harvard spokesperson said the university was aware of Noem’s letter “regarding grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas,” according to Reuters.
The spokesperson said the university stood by its statement earlier in the week to “not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” while saying it will comply with the law, Reuters reported.
Trump’s administration has threatened universities with federal funding cuts over pro-Palestinian campus protests against US ally Israel’s devastating military assault on Gaza.
Human rights groups and advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the crackdown by the government.
The Trump administration has frozen or canceled some funding for universities like Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Northwestern as well, according to Reuters.
