The China Mail - Trump administration ramps up attack on Harvard, Columbia

USD -
AED 3.672865
AFN 69.832378
ALL 85.990063
AMD 382.948926
ANG 1.789679
AOA 917.000474
ARS 1187.515703
AUD 1.541
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.701286
BAM 1.712265
BBD 2.018819
BDT 122.217067
BGN 1.713299
BHD 0.37702
BIF 2977.158716
BMD 1
BND 1.286008
BOB 6.908836
BRL 5.585701
BSD 0.999869
BTN 85.609874
BWP 13.376515
BYN 3.272091
BYR 19600
BZD 2.008403
CAD 1.369225
CDF 2880.999478
CHF 0.82199
CLF 0.024241
CLP 930.229608
CNY 7.175987
CNH 7.18495
COP 4106.25
CRC 509.694079
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.534848
CZK 21.692898
DJF 178.047179
DKK 6.535685
DOP 59.033645
DZD 131.46028
EGP 49.6178
ERN 15
ETB 136.528076
EUR 0.87624
FJD 2.24925
FKP 0.736269
GBP 0.73828
GEL 2.729811
GGP 0.736269
GHS 10.248151
GIP 0.736269
GMD 70.49948
GNF 8668.131637
GTQ 7.684967
GYD 209.497133
HKD 7.846765
HNL 26.078811
HRK 6.597901
HTG 131.112959
HUF 353.227013
IDR 16305.5
ILS 3.49525
IMP 0.736269
INR 85.73685
IQD 1310.0689
IRR 42099.999811
ISK 126.339614
JEP 0.736269
JMD 159.713893
JOD 0.709012
JPY 144.260964
KES 129.260288
KGS 87.450385
KHR 4011.554116
KMF 430.50203
KPW 899.974754
KRW 1359.409706
KWD 0.30665
KYD 0.833209
KZT 510.037383
LAK 21586.065036
LBP 89586.240098
LKR 299.16786
LRD 199.46606
LSL 17.756056
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.445488
MAD 9.152097
MDL 17.232264
MGA 4510.481859
MKD 53.894366
MMK 2099.519446
MNT 3578.739557
MOP 8.080441
MRU 39.711792
MUR 45.610169
MVR 15.405031
MWK 1733.730141
MXN 19.12345
MYR 4.230499
MZN 63.949886
NAD 17.756056
NGN 1560.120168
NIO 36.805197
NOK 10.09861
NPR 137.00278
NZD 1.659544
OMR 0.384485
PAB 0.999869
PEN 3.625627
PGK 4.110381
PHP 55.759496
PKR 282.059909
PLN 3.75755
PYG 7983.505949
QAR 3.647076
RON 4.421106
RSD 102.667971
RUB 79.352111
RWF 1415.204166
SAR 3.750345
SBD 8.340429
SCR 14.67288
SDG 600.000236
SEK 9.604915
SGD 1.28662
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.649905
SLL 20969.500214
SOS 571.51612
SRD 36.941995
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.750427
SYP 13001.828697
SZL 17.750366
THB 32.622497
TJS 9.884721
TMT 3.51
TND 2.965953
TOP 2.342098
TRY 39.236355
TTD 6.76616
TWD 29.947799
TZS 2629.999975
UAH 41.414164
UGX 3620.09569
UYU 41.559056
UZS 12777.636728
VES 98.299125
VND 26054
VUV 120.573366
WST 2.75029
XAF 574.166922
XAG 0.027647
XAU 0.000298
XCD 2.702551
XDR 0.716787
XOF 574.27751
XPF 104.409795
YER 243.302537
ZAR 17.76755
ZMK 9001.200416
ZMW 24.771325
ZWL 321.999592
  • RYCEF

    -0.2850

    11.865

    -2.4%

  • CMSD

    -0.0311

    22.2

    -0.14%

  • RBGPF

    0.4600

    67.96

    +0.68%

  • SCS

    0.0000

    10.37

    -0%

  • RELX

    -0.5550

    53.8

    -1.03%

  • NGG

    -0.0200

    71.03

    -0.03%

  • RIO

    0.7000

    59.24

    +1.18%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    41.15

    +0.85%

  • BTI

    1.2650

    47.44

    +2.67%

  • CMSC

    0.0000

    22.23

    0%

  • VOD

    -0.0500

    10.21

    -0.49%

  • BCC

    -0.0300

    87.47

    -0.03%

  • BP

    0.1300

    29.05

    +0.45%

  • AZN

    -0.6500

    72.35

    -0.9%

  • JRI

    -0.0100

    12.95

    -0.08%

  • BCE

    -0.1150

    21.86

    -0.53%

Trump administration ramps up attack on Harvard, Columbia
Trump administration ramps up attack on Harvard, Columbia / Photo: © AFP/File

Trump administration ramps up attack on Harvard, Columbia

President Donald Trump ramped up his campaign against top US universities Wednesday, banning visas for all foreign students coming to attend Harvard and threatening to strip Columbia of its academic accreditation.

Text size:

Trump is seeking to bring the universities to heel with claims their international students pose a national security threat, and that they ignored anti-Semitism on campus, and perpetuate liberal bias.

A proclamation issued by the White House late Wednesday declared that the entrance of international students to begin a course at Harvard would be "suspended and limited" for six months, and that existing overseas enrollees could have their visas terminated.

"Harvard's conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers," said the order.

"I'm trembling. This is outrageous," Karl Molden, a Harvard government and classics student from Austria, told AFP.

"He is abusing his executive power to harm Harvard as much as he can."

"My god!" said another international student at Harvard, who declined to be named for fear of retribution, on learning of the executive order.

"This is such a disgrace."

- 'Retaliatory' -

The announcement came after the Trump administration's earlier efforts to terminate Harvard's right to enroll and host foreign students were stalled by a judge.

The government already cut around $3.2 billion of federal grants and contracts benefiting Harvard and pledged to exclude the Cambridge, Massachusetts institution from any future federal funding.

Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump's campaign against top universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment and "viewpoint diversity."

Trump has also singled out international students at Harvard, who in the 2024-2025 academic year accounted for 27 percent of total enrollment, and a major source of income.

"This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights," a university spokesman said.

"Harvard will continue to protect its international students."

The latest sweeping action against Harvard came as Trump's education secretary threatened Wednesday to strip Columbia University of its accreditation.

The Republican has targeted the New York Ivy League institution for allegedly ignoring harassment of Jewish students, throwing all of its federal funding into doubt.

Unlike Harvard, several top institutions -- including Columbia -- have already bowed to far-reaching demands from the Trump administration, which claims that the educational elite is too left-wing.

- 'Combating anti-Semitism' -

But Wednesday's official action suggested it was not enough for Trump.

"Columbia University looked the other way as Jewish students faced harassment," US Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on X.

She accused the school of breaking rules prohibiting recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

"After Hamas' October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University's leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus," McMahon said in a statement.

"This is not only immoral, but also unlawful."

In the statement, the US Education Department said its civil rights office had contacted Columbia's accreditation body about the alleged violation.

Withdrawing Columbia's accreditation would see it lose access to all federal funding -- a very significant proportion of the university's income.

Students attending the university would also not be able to receive federal grants and loans towards tuition.

Critics accuse the Trump administration of using allegations of anti-Semitism to target educational elites and bring universities to their knees.

The administration has already put $400 million of Columbia's funding under review, prompting the university in March to announce a package of concessions to the government around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and conducting oversight for specific academic departments.

Following Wednesday's announcement, a Columbia spokesperson said the university "aware of the concerns" raised by the government with its accreditation body.

"We have addressed those concerns directly with Middle States," the spokesperson said, adding that "Columbia is deeply committed to combating anti-Semitism on our campus."

"We take this issue seriously and are continuing to work with the federal government to address it."

L.Kwan--ThChM