Harvard given 30 days to respond as Trump administration threatens foreign student ban

The notice arrived just ahead of a federal court hearing that will decide whether a temporary block on the Trump administration’s earlier revocation order should be extended.

Trump vs Harvard

Since returning to office in January, President Donald Trump has escalated his campaign against elite universities, placing institutions like Harvard under heightened scrutiny for alleged political bias. But the administration’s tougher stance began to take shape well before his latest term.

The turning point came in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which ignited the Gaza war and fuelled widespread campus protests across the United States. At a congressional hearing two months after the October 7 attacks, then-Harvard President Claudine Gay was asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate the university’s rules on bullying and harassment.

“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay responded — a statement that stunned students, donors, and lawmakers alike, and exposed deep divisions within Harvard and its alumni network.

Gay later issued a public apology, but the fallout, compounded by a separate plagiarism scandal, led to her resignation. Many Jewish advocacy groups said her departure pointed to a broader failure by Harvard to adequately confront antisemitism on campus.

Despite the leadership change, the Trump administration has kept up the pressure and launched an aggressive campaign against Harvard, citing alleged antisemitism and discrimination on campus. This began with an executive order targeting institutions that fail to protect Jewish students, followed by investigations, threats to revoke visas of foreign students, and multiple funding freezes. Harvard has been placed under scrutiny by several federal agencies, with demands to dismantle DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programmes, stop race-based admissions, and increase “viewpoint diversity.”

Despite Harvard President Alan Garber’s firm defence of academic freedom and constitutional protections, the administration escalated pressure, cutting off new research grants, threatening tax-exempt status, and ultimately revoking the university’s ability to enrol international students. The Department of Energy and other agencies also terminated hundreds of millions in funding. Harvard has responded with lawsuits, claiming First Amendment violations and federal overreach.